Always Watches
by OrangeGalen
Summary: During one night out in Vale, Ruby buys a new game and brings it back to their dorm. After playing it, she convinces the rest of the team to try it. After multiple playthroughs however, Ruby becomes a little paranoid and hates going to department stores with those faceless mannequins. Then it starts growing a little more... alarming when she starts drawing notes and sketches...
1. A Night Out

**Hey peoples, this is now a renewed thing. I uploaded this first in the regular section but decided to move it to the x-overs where it belongs. I thought of this idea when I was reading some RWBY Fanfiction where Team RWBY were playing games, and I wanted to have something like that except with plot. I know, right? Shocking. **

**So this story marks my first RWBY expedition. Who-woo!**

**Anywho, the first couple of chapters are just setting things up and the different reactions to the girls playing the game (you'll figure it out if you haven't read the summary) before I get to actual story, so sit tight, it's gonna' be a bumpy ride!**

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**Edit 4/24/15: I changed the rating to 'T' for the language, for now, but later when more things happen it'll get bumped back up to the 'M' rating.**

**Edit 4/26/16: A year later I moved this story to the xOvers, and edited chapters 1-6. **

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**This site is called FanFiction for a reason. I own nothing. **

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It was a beautiful night in Vale. As Ruby Rose strolled along, she smiled to herself at the sight of the fractured moon above, lighting up the streets more than the holographic lights along the sides of the road. Little tiny stars poked pin-sized holes in the encompassing blackness of the night sky, forming well-known constellations to all of Remnant. There was the Beowolf and the Hunter, where a Beowolf and a sword-carrying hunter are locked in battle for as long as the stars shone. Then there was the Odyssey, a sea vessel that was said to wander the world in search of a home free from Grimm that eventually made it's way into the sky.

Ruby looked back down at the earth, or at least the asphalt and concrete of the road. It had been an eventful week, especially two days ago when Blake revealed herself to be a Faunus, and then that whole fiasco with Roman Torchwick at the Dust port. And then earlier today with that _totally awesome epic_ food fight that Team RWBY and JNPR had that wrecked Beacon's dining hall which made Ruby's 'Best Day Ever' plans fall a little out of order, but thankfully Glynda Goodwitch fixed the hall so it looked good as new. She even repaired the pillar that Weiss had smashed, the wall that Ruby had fractured, and the two holes Yang had made in the ceiling (one from exiting, one from re-entering) from Nora's watermelon hammer, not to mention the bajillion tables and benches that were strewn throughout the hall during/after the fight.

Ruby smiled at the thought of it. _I totally won that fight_, she thought smugly, which was true as she was the last remaining member of Team RWBY standing. _Glynda didn't look too happy after it was over, but Headmaster Ozpin must 'of said something to calm her ire since we didn't get detention. Oh well, it was just the start of the best day ever! _After the fight, the team had done several other games and activities, inviting JNPR over at different points of the afternoon. They all had a blast, even the ones that didn't show it outwardly, like Ren or Blake. _Today is definitely something I'm going to write about in my diary. _

But the day was almost over and Ruby was out in Vale on a borrowed Bullhead for one last thing. Okay, it was a scheduled trip as she couldn't just _ask_ for one since they wouldn't let her have it (nor could she pilot it), and it was supposed to return to Beacon in about forty-five minutes. So Ruby was out in one last shopping spree to end the day off. However she hadn't actually gotten anything yet as nothing struck her fancy or what she thought her teammates would like.

Oh sure there was the coffee shop where she bought just about all their chocolate chip cookies, but that didn't count. Cookies were her fuel.

Speaking of cookies, Ruby took one out of her pocket and munched on it as she walked. _Mmmm, still warm._ _So, where should I go? Blake has enough books, Yang just got those spicy hot chips yesterday, and Weiss has enough Dust to last her for a while._ Ruby was in a dilemma, or was it a conundrum? Anyway, she couldn't figure out what to get her teammates.

She hummed to herself, then stopped and walked backwards a couple of steps to take a second look at a store. It was a gamming shop, and not the board game kind. _Perfect! Everybody loves a good video game, well except maybe Weiss, but I'll teach her to enjoy them! This is exactly what I was looking for._ Ruby entered excitedly. There were posters and displays up for some of the newest games out. Call to War: Modern Duty, Ringworld 5: Guardians, Grand Theft Dust 5, and various other games were being presented to those that first walked in. Even the newest installations of Capsule Monsters (both Sol and Luna versions) were out.

Ruby looked around with wide eyes. _Wow, it's been ages since I was in here._ Yang only let her in a few times before and never let her get any of the mature games. Also she never had the money since it was spent mainly on upgrades and ammo for her sweetheart. But since they were in Beacon now, and she had a larger budget now, Ruby supposed she could get a few games. _Besides, it's for the Team, not me._ Or so she told herself. Ruby browsed through the shelves and grabbed a couple of the more popular games and made her way to the counter.

Once again, she paused and walked backwards as a game case caught her eye. It was just a simple disk case that was black except for the title on the front. It just said Slender: The Eight Pages in a sort of scratchy, messy, white writing. _Huh, why did that catch my attention?_ Ruby picked up the game and turned it over. The only thing on the back was a barcode in the bottom corner, the system requirements for playing the game on a computer, and a large circle with an 'X' through it in the same font style as the title on the front. _I wonder how much this game is,_ Ruby wondered, as there wasn't a price label or anything for the game. Shrugging to herself, she added the game to her collection and continued to the counter.

"Hello, ready to check out?" The man behind the counter said. He had short dark brown hair, with glasses and some stubble on his face. His nametag read 'Ray'.

"Yep, here you go." Ruby handed four games over and Ray started scanning them.

He paused on the Slender game though. "Huh. Don't remember this being in the inventory."

"How much is it?" Ruby asked.

Ray scanned it and said, "Eight lien. That's relatively cheep, a good buy even if the game is bad."

"Do you don't know anything about it?"

"Nope. I can safely say that it doesn't have any achievements because I would have remembered getting them already."

"Huh," Ruby made a nondescript sound. "Oh well, I'll take it anyway."

"Alright, the total is 88 Lien."

Ruby groaned but reminded herself that it was for the Team, and thus, a good cause. She paid up and took the bag, but paused yet again as a thought occurred to her. "You know, you look familiar." She said to Ray.

Ray grimaced, "Yea, you're probably referring to the Achieve Men aren't you? I get that a lot."

"Oh, okay!" Ruby said cheerfully, "Have a good night!" She gave a wave back and exited the store.

_All right, now head back to the Bullhead and back to Beacon for a night of video games!_ Ruby smiled to herself and hummed a merry tune as she walked back to the airship dock.

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**Kiddos to those that got the game references and the reference to Ray's GameStop days.**

**So, what did you think? Want to read more? Well you're going to get more anyway since this is a little easier to write than some of the other epics I'm writing on this site. **

**Read, Review, Favorite, Follow**

**-OrangeGalen**


	2. Ruby Plays: First Attempt

**Hey everybody! I want to thank Cheatengine 343, Mr. Rainbow, rustbucket1, Tearmann, riot snake-kun, and sup3rp00per for favoriting and/or following this story! Thank you!**

**This chapter is twice as long as the previous one, so enjoy! First up: Ruby's first time playing Slender. Dun-dun duhhh!**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Slender, and not RWBY. They belong to other people. **

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"HELLLLLLLLOOOOO TEAM RWBY!" Ruby announced her return as she opened the door to their dorm room, startling the other three occupants. Or at least had attempted to. Yang had lived long enough with Ruby to not react to anything she did. All she did was to turn to see her enter and give her a wave. Blake was curled up on her bed with a book in her face. As Ruby entered she merely brought the book lower so her yellow eyes barely cleared the top of her book before bringing it back up again, her bow twitching slightly to the noise due to her Faunus cat ears underneath. Weiss was the only one to react in any noticeable manner by jumping slightly in her chair at the computer as the door slammed open, then turning around with a mild irate look on her face, which in some cases would be a normal look for her.

"Why hello sis, long time no see," Yang said with a grin. "Where did you disappear off to in such a hurry?"

"I went to Vale and bought some new games for us to play!" Ruby said excitedly, holding up the bag as evidence.

"More games?" Weiss asked disbelievingly. "Don't we already have enough?"

"Can never have too much of a good thing," Ruby replied back.

"Except that one time when dad made those chocolate brownies and you-"

"Key word: _one _time." Ruby cut Yang off. That was not her finest moment. She refocused on Weiss, "Besides, you hardly play any of the games we have!"

"Because they're a colossal waste of time and turn your brain to mush if you play them too long," Weiss retorted.

"So, anywho, what'd ya get?" Yang asked, cutting off the heiress.

"Let's see," Ruby dug in the bag and brought out three games, "I got the newest Ringworld and Spirit Caliber games, and also the newest Super Crash Bros. And get this, we could have JNPR come over and play it since it supports 8 players!" Ruby omitted the fourth game she got. _That's my game to play, the rest are for the team. _

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's invite them over!" Yang said.

"Not so fast Yang," Weiss said, "do we even have enough controllers for everybody?" Surprisingly they had found Weiss was actually pretty good at video games with straightforward rules when she was basically forced to play them by the team. Shoot anyone that isn't on your team, watch out for your health, and completely crush the opposition. Those kinds of rules. Board games are a lost cause for her though.

"I'm pretty sure Jaune and Nora have some," Blake said from her bed, her book now forgotten.

"Considering how many she breaks, that might just be Jaune's then," Yang commented.

"Alright! Let's go ask!" Ruby put the bag and the games on Weiss' bed then marched over to Team JNPR's room and knocked.

The door opened and Ren was there. "Oh, hello Ruby," he said in his calm voice, "did you need something?"

"Yea, I'm inviting your team over to play Super Crash Bros.! Also we need controllers," she smiled sheepishly.

Ren smirked, "I'll ask Jaune." He went over to the blond haired team leader and spoke in a low voice to him that Ruby couldn't hear.

"Well of course! Let's go!" Jaune stood up and got the attention of Nora and Pyrrha. "Nora, grab the extra controllers; we're playing Super Crash Bros. with RWBY!"

"You got it!" Nora rushed over and went to a box in the corner of their dorm and fished out the controllers then ran over to the door. A few minutes later, the two teams were crammed inside one room in front of the Holo-Screen beating the crap out of each other using their favorite characters and having a good time.

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More or less.

"Crash Ball! Suck it!"

"Oh Goddamnit Weiss, not again!" Yang shouted at the white haired girl as a giant beam of energy sliced through R_BY and JNPR's characters, blasting half of them off the stage from the attack. "First the hammer, then a Crash Ball, then that mega laser cannon, then _another_ Crash Ball? C'mon!"

At that the time ran out and Weiss won the round with 9 K.O.'s total. "You were the one that wanted items on high," Blake reminded her fiery partner, somehow coming in third with her favorite character Solid Cobra.

Yang groaned, "Don't remind me." She had no luck this round, coming in dead last out of the two teams playing with Major Eagle. She's usually better than that with him, as they both had fiery punches.

JNPR chuckled to themselves, all of them doing relatively well. Jaune stood up and stretched. "Well, I think it's time that we started wrapping up this day," he said.

"Already?" Ruby asked/whined.

"Well it is a little after ten, and tomorrow is the last day before the second semester begins. We need to be well rested for that," he explained

"_Pffff_, who needs rest," Yang dismissed him with a wave. She also got up and stretched, her sizable… assets definitely prominent on her chest. "Whelp, I'm hungry so I'm gonna' hit the kitchens, see if there's anything left. Anyone want to join me?"

"Ooh ooh me me!" Nora shouted, jumping up and down.

"I'll go with her." Ren said in his slightly more than a monotone.

"Sure, why not?" Weiss shrugged.

They looked at Jaune, Pyrrha, Ruby and Blake. "Nah, I'm fine," Jaune said, "besides I need to put the controllers back."

"I'll help you Jaune." Pyrrha said.

"Blake?" Yang asked.

"I'll stay here." Blake said.

"I'm fine too, but if you can get me a cookie or three that'll be nice." Ruby said.

"I'll see what they have." Yang smirked, having no intention of giving Ruby any sort of sugar this late in the night.

"Yea! Let's go Team WYNR!" **(Pronounced 'winner') **Nora cheered.

Jaune chuckled, "That's actually pretty good Nora."

"Thanks!"

"Well, let's go before there's nothing left." The four of them exited the room, not really worrying about the noise level since it was a Saturday in-between semesters and the curfew rules were a bit lax as an unofficial Beacon tradition that the teachers followed. Well, all except Goodwitch, but she was usually holed up in her office grading papers or whatever so it was usually fine.

Jaune and Pyrrha spent a minute more in RWBY's dorm before going back to theirs with their four controllers. So Ruby sat on top of her bed suspended by ropes while Blake took her rest on her own bed, once again with a book.

_Hmmm, what to do now. Yang's probably not going to come back with any cookies and Blake's ensconced in her book, yea I can use fancy words, go me! Anyway, there's no games left I can pl- no, wait! I have that one game that I bought. What was it? Slimmer?_ Ruby slid off her bed and went into the bag, which was still on Weiss' bed and pulled out the game. _Slender, that was it._

She flipped it over to the back and looked at the system requirements. _Okay, the computer we have will work with this._ She opened the case and saw that the disk was in there. Satisfied, she booted up the computer.

"What are you doing?" Blake asked curiously.

"I'm going to install this game I bought. It's only single player from what I gathered." Ruby answered.

Blake regarded her for a moment then said, "Just use your headphones while your playing."

Ruby smirked, "Okay." She popped the disk in and started the instillation process. Soon enough the game was ready to play.

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Ruby clicked on the game symbol, which popped up with the graphics option. It had already defaulted to the actual screen resolution and Ruby kept the graphics a healthy 'simple', just enough so that the game would look good but still run smoothly. Then she clicked the Input option.

_Ah, the ol' 'WASD' movement option_, she noted._ I'm fine with that. I wonder if there ever was a team with that name?_ (Somewhere Ozpin and four other people sneezed)_ Jog/Sprint, shift. Zoom? So I can see stuff further away? Flashlight? I need one? _She checked the list again. _Nothing else? No wonder this game was only 8 Lien; you can barely do anything in it. Okay, I guess I'm ready. Oops! Almost forgot. Earphones. _Ruby quickly grabbed and plugged them in, then put them on over her ears.

And then she hit play.

The screen went black and Ruby waited for a moment. Then some creepy music started playing that sent a shiver or three up Ruby's spine._ Oh no. Oh no no no no no no no no. Don't tell me this is a scary game. I _hate_ scary games. I can't play them. Why? Why?_

The main menu came up with the title Slender- The Eight Pages, and had different options: Start Game, Options, Extras, Credits, and the ever-blessed Quit button. _Ugh, do I want to do this? Not really, but I paid for it. I guess I should at least play it once. _Reluctantly, Ruby found the mouse cursor over the 'Start Game'. Sighing one last time, she clicked it.

The screen went black and thankfully the music stopped as well. Then she heard crickets chirping, and the sound of something crunching which after a moment she realized was footsteps on gravel. Words appeared in white. '_Parsec Productions'… ooookay? _Ruby thought. Then the next part appeared: Presents. _Oh I get it now, it's the introduction. _

The footsteps stopped and the black screen whipped left to right to reveal the name 'Slender', with 'The Eight Pages' underneath. The next sound was someone climbing over a chain link fence, then a person dropping down and hitting the gravel.

Click.

The flashlight turned on and the words 'Collect all 8 pages' appeared. _Oh, so I just need to collect pages then? Sounds… simple enough._ She looked around, not really able so see much with the flashlight on. _I'll probably be able to see more without the flashlight, _Ruby thought jokingly, and then turned it off to see what it looked like.

She promptly turned it back on. _Yea I'll just keep the flashlight on thank you. _

_Okay so, where to go? It looks like there are some paths to follow, so left or right? Ah, I'll go left, see where that takes me. _Ruby's character started walking, or at least the flashlight was moving in that direction. _It's actually a nice night in this game,_ Ruby thought. _There's crickets chirping, the wind is nice, and there are background noises like a dog somewhere, so I can't be too far from a city. Maybe a park?_ That thought gave her some comfort as she remembered the park on Patch Yang and her spent a lot of time at.

About half a minute of walking brought her to a clearing. Dead center of the clearing was a tree. It was different from all the other trees, and not just because it was a stand-alone tree. It had no leaves that Ruby could see and the trunk was thicker than the other trees. The freakiest thing about it was that the limbs seemed to be swaying without any external force being applied. They moved on their own and not with the wind.

_That's really creepy, why did they design a tree like that?_ Ruby strafed right around the tree, but something caught her eye in the edge of the flashlight's beam. When she turned and looked it was a piece of paper. _Oh hey, I found a note! Or page. Yay! _Then she looked at what it was. It was a slightly yellow paper with black ink on it. There were drawings of trees on it, but on the right was an out of proportion person with too long arms and not much of a face to speak of. _Well, that's… something,_ Ruby thought, not really coming up with anything. _So I need to collect this note?_ _What was it? Click it, right. _

Ruby clicked on the note and the words 'Pages 1/8' appeared. _Yay!_ Then an ominous echoing thumping noise started playing. _Thum… thum… thum… thum…_ _Ohhhhhh no. Oh no. That's bad, that's really, really bad. That means something's out to get me. Ahhh! Gotta' hurry. What was it, the sprint? Shift?_ Ruby pressed the key and the girl started 'running'. Running was in massive sarcasm.

"Oh come on, I can walk faster than this! Heck, I could _crawl_ faster than this!" Ruby said out loud in exasperation. She stopped running just to not get too annoyed with the game, and also because the flashlight went down to the ground when she... jogged really. Not much else could describe it.

She continued on the path and soon came to a red truck with a shed behind it. _Okay, note here? Ah, there it is._ She saw the slightly highlighted outline of the note on the right side. This time is was different. There was only one tree on the left, with the drawing man in the middle, with the word 'Follows' going on the right side. _Yea, okay, something is following me._ She clicked it and 'Pages 2/8' showed up. _One-fourth done. You can do this Ruby!_

The _thum… thum… thum…_ continued. And the sweat started to build.

Ruby walked a bit more and noticed that there was an open space to her right. _I'll go right this time, see how that goes. _She started towards the area and glanced up. _Oh look, sky and stars._ Ruby tried for a moment to make out constellations, but her nerves couldn't handle staying still so she continued walking.

Her flashlight shone upon a building. _Ugh, I'm going to have to go in there aren't I? _She groaned and walked in the entrance. The footsteps changed so that it sounded as if she was walking on the tiles. _What is this, a bathroom? A shower room? A locker room? What is this?_ She turned a corner and saw a chair on its side, then walked past it. She entered a dead end with no note in sight. _Oh no, I'm goin' to have to turn around. _Wincing, she slowly and painfully turned around. There was nothing. _Oh thank Dust. _

She walked past the fallen chair but when she glanced to the right…

There it was.

It was so tall that it reached the ceiling, with abnormal arms that went down to where normal knees would be. It was dressed in black with a white undershirt and a tie. The worst was its face. It was blank. Only subtle bumps showed any shadow of a hint where its eyes and nose should have been, and it had no mouth, no other features.

Just blank. White. Blank.

The sound picked up and there was a burst of static that flashed across the screen as Ruby's flashlight shone on it. Ruby, understandably, squealed in fright and jumped. Quickly she turned and went left, running as fast as the game would let her. "Oh god oh god oh god oh god, ahhh!" Ruby yelped as she went around the corner. There was another opening and Ruby took it.

Unfortunately it was another dead end.

Fortunately it had another page.

"Oh thank god, now I can finally get out of here!" Ruby went up to the page, which said 'Leave Me Alone' with a tree to the right side.

Pages 3/8.

Then a low droning noise started up that raised Ruby's already frayed nerves even more. "I'm out!" Ruby took the nearest exit and immediately turned left again and started sprinting again. Once Ruby thought she put enough distance between her and that _thing_ she glanced around.

It was there, following.

The screen started filling up with static and Ruby turned back around, inertly knowing that looking at it is a really bad thing. She soldiered on.

The next thing she came across was rows of what looked like fuel tanks. _I wish I had Crescent Rose with me; then I could just blow them up when it gets close enough. Or even just cut it into tiny pieces._ She went in-between the right most ones and looked right, then left. Nothing. No pages. Ruby went past the two perpendicular tankers to the next row. Left, then right.

"Yes!" Another page on the far right end. Ruby ran to it and gave it a glance. On top it said 'Always Watches' then a featureless face with two 'x's where the eyes could be, then under that it said, 'No Eyes'. Ruby clicked it.

Pages 4/8.

Ruby started walking again, her breathing almost matching her character's. _Half way there. Half way there._

Unfortunately, that was as far as she would get.

A sudden slamming piano noise cut through the game's noise, causing Ruby to jump up in fright. During this, her knee hit the underside of the desk, causing a sharp pain to cloud her mind. She had also jerked her hands, hitting the keyboard and disconnecting the mouse at the same time. "Ow! My knee!"

Then as she watched horrified, her screen turned without her doing anything and the static whine grew louder and filled the screen. The thing was there, right next to her. The static completely filled the screen and the faceless thing's face flashed a few times with the deafening static, causing Ruby to scream in fright again and fall out of the chair, curled up in a ball.

Pages 4/8

Click to continue.

Game over.

Ruby now laid near comatose on Team RWBY's floor.

"Ruby? Are you alright?" Blake's somewhat alarmed voice cut through the now silent room.

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**And thus ends Ruby's first attempt. Four out of eight, not bad. Next time though, it's Blake's turn!**

**Hope you like, please R.R.F.F (Read, Review, Favorite, Follow). **

**-OrangeGalen**


	3. Blake Plays

**Hello, I'm back again. Man I'm just tearing through these chapters. I'm having a blast! Now, thanks to idomo3912, WarmasterCain55, DarTxeez, and Dr. Science for favoriting/following this story since last time!**

**I decided I'm actually going to think of a outline for this story and now have 25 chapters planned, with more on the way. Most of those though are going to be 2nd season RWBY with slight AU included due to Slender. It'll diverge later the further it gets.**

**Now then, it's Blake's turn! Let's see how that goes... (evil smirk)**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own the two things in this story, those two things being Slender and RWBY. **

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"Well, let's go before there's nothing left." Weiss, Yang, Nora, and Ren exited the room, leaving Ruby and Blake, plus Jaune and Pyrrha in the room. After getting their controllers, Jaune and Pyrrha bid their adieus and left.

_It's quiet again,_ Blake thought. _I miss the noise but I don't at the same time, probably because I liked having my friends here. Well, this party's over so I'll just read until something happens next or I fall asleep. _Blake went over to her bookcase and rifled through the collection of books she had, giving 'Ninjas of Love' an embarrassed glance over. _Still don't know what possessed me to bring _that _to school,_ she thought, ignoring the part of her that said 'for alone time.'

She pulled out a book titled 'The Third Crusade', the latest book she bought from her fellow Faunus Tukson in his bookstore. It was the last copy he had at the time so it was extra special. Not that it would be different than all the other books she had, excluding the ones supporting Yang's bed above. Those were cheep 1 Lien a dozen kind and she didn't mind the damage being done to them.

The Third Crusade was a slightly romanticized novel that takes place during the last Great War. What made it great was its historical accuracy but with just enough of a deviation for the main characters to make it a story. Blake picked up where she left off at Chapter 33 and read a paragraph before she saw Ruby doing something at the computer.

"What are you doing?" Blake asked curiously.

"I'm going to install this game I bought. It's only single player from what I gathered." Ruby answered.

Blake regarded her for a moment then said, "Just use your headphones while your playing." _After the noise of Crash Bros. my ears need a break._ _All four of them. _

Ruby smirked, "Okay." She popped the disk in and started the instillation process. Soon enough the game was ready to play and Ruby immersed herself in it.

Blake went back to her book and basically ignored Ruby as much as possible. There were a few groans and Ruby's breathing was becoming a little erratic, but Blake figured that was just the game's energy making Ruby pumped up.

That was until Ruby's outburst.

"Oh come on, I can walk faster than this! Heck, I could _crawl_ faster than this!" Ruby suddenly exclaimed with exasperation evident in her tone. Blake glanced up and saw Ruby throw her hands up in the air for a moment before going back to the game. Blake smirked. _Speed is important to her, especially because of her Semblance. So if someone, or rather, her character is going slow, Ruby's probably getting really annoyed with the game. Plus she's naturally energetic._

From the angle she was at, Ruby's body was right in front of the computer monitor so Blake couldn't see exactly what Ruby was playing or doing. But she could see the way that Ruby's body was reacting to whatever she was doing. Blake found herself more and more drawn away from her book and just interested herself in looking at Ruby.

Ruby was getting progressively twitchier, and with her Faunus enhanced senses, she could smell Ruby's fear. _Okay, so I guess she's playing a scary game. _She frowned,_ That doesn't sound like a game that Ruby would buy for herself. She doesn't like scary games. Maybe she bought it by mistake? _Ruby twitched again and groaned. The twitch Blake recognized as a wince, but the groan Ruby made somewhat amused her. A little bit later Ruby sighed in palpable relief.

Then the screen flashed.

Blake couldn't see what happened, only that Ruby was silhouetted for a moment because of the screen glow.

She however _did_ see and hear Ruby's reaction.

Ruby squealed in fright and jumped in her chair and then all but yelled, "Oh god oh god oh god oh god, ahhh!" Blake was startled and slightly alarmed because she'd never heard Ruby say anything close to a curse without censoring herself into saying something else.

Ruby continued in relief, "Oh thank god, no I can finally get out of here!" There was a pause then Ruby said, "I'm out!"

Blake was flipping between worry and amusement. On one hand, Ruby was an innocent young girl that saw everything in black and white and playing a scary game could blur that line; Blake knew from experience. On the other it was still funny seeing someone else get scared, in the sort of humor one gets from seeing someone else scared.

Ruby whimpered and Blake could see Ruby shaking. Then Ruby said, "Yes!" as if she solved something. Her breathing was becoming shallower and quicker as she played. _What's scaring Ruby so much that she's having this reaction? _Blake was becoming curious as to what the game was.

In the game something must have startled, or rather scared Ruby because she screamed and jumped about two feet in the chair and also banged her knee under the desk, causing a loud _'thunk'_. At the same time she literally punched the whole keyboard and also disconnected the mouse from the computer. _That was slightly impressive to watch,_ Blake thought. "Ow! My knee!" Ruby yelled in pain.

The screen lit up again and something happened because Ruby screamed in fear and literally fell out of the chair and rolled into a ball on the floor. At this point Blake put her book down and went over to Ruby.

"Ruby? Are you alright?" Blake's somewhat alarmed voice cut through the now silent room. She crouched down next to Ruby and put her hand on her back.

Ruby shook her head, her eyes shut. "I no like. Go away." Blake could tell that Ruby wasn't referring to her and rather the game so she stayed.

"It was the game wasn't it? Something scared you?" Ruby nodded and began to relax as Blake began rubbing circles on her back.

"The thing chasing me, it follows you. Has no face. No eyes. Always watches. " Ruby shivered once then relaxed a bit more. "Ugh, why did I buy that game?" She sounded more like herself now.

Blake grinned despite herself. "I don't know, you tell me."

That actually managed to get Ruby fully out of her comatose state as she began thinking again. "Oh yea, it was only 8 Lien, that's why." Ruby stood up and glanced at the screen. Blake looked and it said 'Pages 4/8' and 'Click to continue.' Ruby went over and hit a button, which caused the game to quit. "Right, not playing that again," Ruby said to herself.

Blake frowned in thought. She wasn't one to be hugely interested in video games, but for some reason she wanted to see what caused Ruby to go into a near coma. "Hey Ruby, do you think that I could play?"

Ruby spun around so fast that a rose petal flew away. "What? No you don't! Why would you want to play a game like that? It's scary!"

Blake shrugged, "I just want to try it and see what it's like."

Ruby stared at her like she was crazy then gestured to the computer, "Knock yourself out, it's downloaded to the hard-drive so anyone could play it now. Just don't expect me to watch," Ruby finished and she jumped up to her bed and promptly hid herself under the covers.

_Ah, she'll come out to change into her pajamas in a little while,_ Blake thought as she sat down at the computer. She looked around for the recent game and saw the title 'Slender- The Eight Pages'. _Okay, I can see how Ruby would buy this game. The title is ambiguous enough for her to not worry about it. _She clicked on it and chose the regular settings and checked the controls. _Everything's fine, and there's the jog/sprint that was causing issues for Ruby._ Not having anything else to do, she put on the earphones over her human ears and hit 'play'.

The screen went black, and then creepy music started playing. Blake was struck still for a moment before she shook herself out of it. _Okay, that's one good thing about a scary game that this one has: unnerving music. Sets the mood._ She checked the options and found that it was just basic stuff and didn't do anything with it. Next was 'Extras'. There were two options unlocked; 'Normal Mode' followed by two options that were just '?', then 'Flashlight', also followed by two '?'s. _I suppose those are other game modes that haven't been unlocked yet._ Having nothing else she backed out and hit 'Start Game'.

* * *

The screen went black and the music ended, the only sound being the crunching of feet on the ground, as if stepping on leaves. _Parsec Productions made this? I've never heard of them. They're probably a small group of programmers that built this game on their own free time._ **(OG: No offence to anybody in Parsec, it's just what Blake thinks.) **

Her character finished climbing over the fence and the flashlight turned on. "'Collect all 8 Pages' huh? Okay, that's doable."

"You'd be surprised," Ruby commented from her bed. Blake could hear her since she had an extra pair of ears on her head. Blake spared a glance and saw her leader now looking down at an angle so she was able to see the screen and also make a quick getaway if things ended the way it did for her.

"We'll see." Blake said confidently, and she started walking off to the right. She tried the sprint and was almost as disappointed as Ruby. "Wow, you're right, the sprint is as fast as your normal walk," she said.

"I know, right? Why is someone even going that slowly anyway?" Ruby said.

"I assume that's part of the game," Blake said as she saw a red cylindrical object in the trees. She headed towards it. "It's the way to make the game difficult. Limited movement, and hindered speed. A person naturally wants to go faster when scared, following the 'fight or flight' response, so not being able to do either well makes the person playing more frightened."

"Wow Blake, you made that sound reasonable." Ruby said in amazement at Blake's assessment.

"It's not the first horror game I've played," Blake said, slightly shrugging. _Also, talking to someone helps with the terror a bit. _She found a page on the other side of the red thing, which said 'Help Me'. She clicked it and the words 'Pages 1/8' appeared.

And the drumming started. _Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

_And now starts the constant sound to unnerve you, _Blake thought. Ruby squeaked from above, knowing what Blake was hearing. Blake continued onward, a little disoriented from where she was heading, but picked a direction and went with it. She soon was rewarded with a series of white rocks. She strafed left around them and found the page almost on the side she started on.

This time the page said 'Don't Look… Or It Takes You' with a stick figure in the bottom right corner with long arms. _Well… that's encouraging._

Pages 2/8.

As Blake continued her trek, her vision started getting a little static in it. The sound started to rise, as did the intensity of the static. _Uhh, okay…? _Blake turned away and started walking with a tiny hint of sprint thrown in and the static dissipated after a few moments. _So there was something that way then. _

Blake took a moment to wipe her hands on her pants to get rid of the clamminess. Then she shook her head to get rid of that feeling that was growing.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

At this point, Blake was lost. She didn't know where the road was and was now aimlessly wandering through the trees. She eventually reached the boundary of the map as she came across the chain link fence that she had climbed over in the intro. _Oh great, fence. I guess I have to go left then._ Blake made a sharp left and continued on. Blake found the road again and continued on it. She came to a 'T' intersection and went left, coming to two rows of carved wooden poles.

_That's not ominous at all,_ Blake thought. The flashlight illuminated just enough of them so that she could see them, but not enough so that they were clear except for the one in front of her. However she did see the slightly glowing outline of a page on the middle right pole. This one just had a tree on the left, the out of proportion faceless man, and the word 'Follows' on the right.

Pages 3/8.

At this point the music/sound changed so that a low droning noise came over her. Blake shivered and muttered unintelligible things under her breath. _Okay now this game is getting to me. _She continued on in the direction she found the third note in and came across a concrete tunnel. _Oh, something bad's going to be at the end of it, isn't there?_ Blake wiped her hands again and entered the tunnel.

Right away she could see that she was at the wrong end as the paper was on the left at the far side. Going with her gut feeling, Blake jogged towards the page and collected it, this one saying 'Leave Me Alone'. _I understand and completely agree with that assessment,_ Blake thought and continued jogging.

Pages 4/8.

At this point her character was breathing really hard and she stopped jogging, the heavy breathing raising Blake's hackles even more. If she could see herself, her bow was twitching and she was making small adjustments in her seat. The game was getting to her.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

She came across an open field and saw that there were two options for her: a red brick building or some old tankers. _I'll take the tankers. There's more space for me to run. And to hide. _Blake shivered and started searching the tanks. Luck was on her side this time as the third tank on her left had the note. This one saying 'Can't Run'. "Well that's appropriate." Blake said sarcastically, a bit of tension in her voice.

Pages 5/8.

Somehow in her mind she recalled that Ruby only got four, so that record was beaten.

A new noise started up which sounded vaguely like howling wind.

And the drums continued.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

Blake headed to the building and saw the static start to creep up on her again. She hurried and just as the whine became really loud she entered the building and the static started to disappear again. She turned right and made her way down the tile hall, her footsteps now adding to the noise.

Blake wiped her hands again. He breathing was shallow.

She took another right and followed the hall down another right and saw a doorway on the left this time. She went in and saw that it was a dead end.

Even worse, there was no page in there.

Blake made a high-pitched whine of despair in the back of her throat and peaked out of the door.

_It_ was there.

Tall, inhuman or Faunus arms going near to the floor, faceless. It looked like it belonged in a nightmare, a nightmare that you couldn't wake up from.

Which is entirely accurate.

The noise raised as the sound of someone slamming on the piano suddenly slapped into Blake's human ears, causing her to shriek despite herself and duck back into the dead-end, putting her back against the far wall, waiting for the static to stop. _Okay there's only one entrance, so if you watch it, it can't get in. And you'll just stand there, waiting… waiting until the end._ Blake's breathing was erratic and short and her mouse hand was shaking slightly.

Everything calmed down a bit.

But then the static started again.

"Wait, what? No, I'm watching were it's supposed to come in." Blake said in despair.

Suddenly that piano slamming noise was heard and her screen shifted without her moving it so.

It was right next to her.

The screen flashed with heavy static and the thing's face was behind it, staring at you without eyes.

Blake gave a scream and jumped, not as impressive as Ruby's though, but remarkable enough.

Then the screen went black and the words appeared.

Pages 5/8

Click to continue.

Blake's breathing went back to normal and she pulled off the earphones and took a deep, calming breath, then let it out. She shook her head and then looked up at Ruby. She had a pillow covering most of her face except her silver eyes that were peaking out, looking at Blake.

Blake stood up and put the earphones on the desk. "Good game. Simple, yet that's what makes it work." She tried to make her voice steady by forcing the quivering out of it.

"You're crazy Blake," was Ruby's reply.

Blake just chuckled. Their attention was drawn to the door as it opened, letting Weiss and Yang in, each carrying a plate with different foods on it. "Hey guys, we're back!" Yang said. "We brought food, and what was that scream we heard down the hall?"

Ruby and Blake just looked at each other, a silent plan going between them.

They had both played Slender.

Now they were going to get Yang and Weiss to play.

* * *

**Ha ha! Next time both Weiss and Yang are going to play at the same time! Good idea? Not if they want to win the game. Yes if you want the humor. Oh those two are going to go at it...**

**So that does it, Read, Review, Favorite, Follow!**

**-OrangeGalen**


	4. Weiss and Yang Play

**Hello! Me again. Thank you for all those who favorited and followed this story so far! Obviously I'm doing something people like, so I'll keep working at it. This chapter will be the last reaction chapter for a while, so enjoy it!**

**This time it's Weiss and Yang's turn to play. **

**Before you start, watch the Achievement Hunter's Rage Quit: Slender, parts one and two and the behind the scenes and you might understand more references in here. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: Look above at the top of your screen. See what it says? 'FanFiction'. Obviously I own nothing. **

* * *

"Well, let's go before there's nothing left." Weiss, Yang, Nora, and Ren exited the room and headed down the school hallways to the kitchens. Yang's plan such as it was, which she explained to Team WYNR (Yang gave credit where it was due to Nora's quick naming of the team), was basically to get snacks for everybody in their original teams. Each member would get one other's snack: Weiss had Ruby, Yang had Blake, Ren volunteered for Jaune because that left Nora for Pyrrha. And not to say anything about his friend, but he knew that Pyrrha would have the greatest chance of surviving anything that Nora picked.

Although, admittedly, her choices tended to lean heavily towards pancakes a lot so Pyrrha was _probably_ safe.

There was an eviler ulterior motive to Yang's decision on who to pick, but that'll come a little bit later.

They came through the halls, not encountering anyone still up at this hour, even though it was a weekend. _Huh, apparently people like to sleep early on weekends. Who knew? _Yang thought to herself. She was the one leading the motley crew down the halls. Weiss was walking along beside her, calmly blocking out Nora's ramblings and Ren's countering monotone.

"So how many cookies can I get for Ruby?" Weiss asked. _I know Ruby, and she'll be asking for them. But Yang's her older sister and I know how bad an idea it is to give Ruby sugar. _That was a rough day for _WBY when Ruby somehow managed to spike her _own_ cookies with double the sugar and still have them come out all right. It didn't help that _WBY also had some of those cookies.

"Ruby gets at most three." Yang said with absolute authority, "Any more and none of us are going to get some sleep and she'll crash hard at exactly 10:34 tomorrow."

"Experience?" Weiss questioned her knowledge of when Ruby's crash might happen.

"Four times me and dad had that happen." Yang said with slight exasperation.

"Dad and I," Weiss corrected automatically, but continued, "That must have been… harsh."

"We found her running laps on the roof one time. To this day we have no idea how she got up there, but she's since given the term 'sugar high' a new meaning." Yang commented. Weiss' eye twitched; just having a mental image of a little Ruby perched on the roof like it was a balance beam.

"Okay, three it is then."

By this time they had made it to the student kitchens. Beacon had two kitchens: one for the students, one for the cooking staff. Or as the saying goes 'one for the students to poison themselves, and the other so they can choke'. That came back from the days where the food wasn't that great and had the consistency, taste, and nutrition of wet cardboard. The food had improved vastly since then, but every once in a while people are reminded of the horror stories told about the Tater-tot Casserole days. ***1**

Even the staff hated it. Hence why all the professors now had their own kitchens in their rooms.

Anyway, the student kitchen had most of the stuff that the academy kitchen had: ingredients, cookbooks, and most importantly for the students, easy to make snacks for instances such as now.

The doors burst open as Yang pushed them open. "Alright soldiers, take everything! Leave nothing behind!" Yang said in her best military voice, which was still pretty bad.

"Yeah! Leave nothing standing!" Nora shouted and dashed in, grabbing a plate and loading it up with food. Somehow, even though it was night, she still managed to find pancakes and syrup. Ren was following behind her trail cleaning up the stuff she brought out while calmly gathering food as well. Weiss was going through the cabinets and loading up, making sure to only grab three cookies.

Yang was searching around for something special, as she already got her stuff. She opened a cabinet and gave an evil grin. "There you are," she said in a tone that would send shivers up your spine. She grabbed whatever the thing was and some bread, and then started making a sandwich. After she was done, she grabbed a bottle of ketchup and squirted some on the side. _This is perfect,_ she thought, with an evil laugh going on in the background somewhere.

"Alright, is everybody good?" Yang asked. Everybody gave some sort of 'yes' answer, although that might have been a moan of enjoyment from Nora due to the pancake hanging out of her mouth. "Alright, Team WYNR, onward to victory!" Weiss rolled her eyes but followed.

Truth be told, Weiss did actually like her team. Yes, Ruby was young and immature; yes, Yang was sometimes obnoxious and made the most horrible puns known to mankind and yes, even Blake after she revealed herself as a Faunus. But they were her team and for all their faults, they more than made up for it in other ways.

Didn't mean that they still annoyed her on occasion.

WYNR retraced their steps back to their dorm rooms, slightly more subdued than before, but still lively, making small talk amongst themselves.

Then when they were almost at their rooms they all heard a scream of what sounded like terror. Strange thing was is that it sounded like it came from Blake.

"Blake's in trouble!" Nora shouted.

"Relax, I'm sure it's nothing." Weiss said, hoping it were so.

"Anyway, let's get back to our other halves. Say goodnight to Jaune and Pyrrha for us." Yang said cheerfully.

"We will." Ren said and they went inside their dorm.

Yang opened the door to their own room, carrying their plates with their partner's food. "Hey guys, we're back!" Yang said. "We brought food, and what was that scream we heard down the hall?"

Blake and Ruby stared at each other and Yang took in the positions they were in. Blake was in front of the computer and Ruby looked like she had been hiding under the pillow she was clutching over her head. Weiss looked uncertainly between the two as she saw something change in their look, as if they shared a secret message. When they both turned at the same time she knew something was up.

"Oh it was nothing," Blake started, "Something just jumped out at me during a game Ruby let me play and startled me."

"It was a really stupid thing too," Ruby added, "nothing to worry about."

"Oh. Okay!" Yang said, brushing it off as she put Blake and her's plate of food down on the table. Weiss followed, still suspicious of Ruby and Blake. "Anyway, we brought you some food. Ruby, Weiss got you some stuff, and Blakey; yours truly brought you a little something.

Blake sniffed and smirked, "I can smell it."

Yang's eyes gleamed_, This is it!_

"I have to warn you though, there was something a little fishy with the food and needed a little fine _tuna_-ing, so I put a little _cat_-chup on the side to make it a-okay."

RWB_ stared at Yang incredulously. Ruby was the first to break as she started snickering. Weiss quickly followed with a glare and a scoff. Blake just stared at Yang in that blank gaze she could hold. "You did all that, just so you could make a pun?"

"Yeap." Yang said, popping the 'p'.

"How do you stand living with her?" Weiss directed the question at Ruby.

"Oh, I cannot imagine a life worse than what I have gone through. The horrors I have heard. I would not wish that on my worst enemies." Ruby said in a dramatic 'woe is me' voice, then paused, "That is, if I have any enemies. Maybe Torchwick?"

"Ah sis, you know you love them," Yang said, talking about her puns.

"In any case, pun or no, thank you Yang," Blake said as she got up and picked up the tuna fish sandwich and took a bite. "Although _ketchup_ isn't my favorite side."

Yang smirked, "Maybe I should 'of gotten tarter sauce. Or is it catnip."

Blake's mouth twitched and she glared, "Try it, and you will perish painfully."

Weiss shifted the attention away from them and asked, "What's this?" She was pointing to the monitor that still had 'Pages 5/8' and 'Click to continue' on it.

"Oh that's the game I bought." Ruby said, now free of her pillow and munching on the cookies Weiss brought. They were gone in about ten seconds, if that. "The point of the game is to find eight pages within the time limit."

"That doesn't seem too hard." Weiss said thoughtfully. _Truthfully I do like video games and don't mind playing them… but I have to keep my façade up. _

"Well, why don't you give it a try then?" Blake challenged.

Weiss took a look at the screen and shrugged, "Sure."

"Ooh ooh ooh! I have an idea!" Ruby exclaimed. "Why don't both Weiss and Yang play at the same time?"

"Isn't it a single player game?" Weiss asked.

"Well, I suppose one of you could take the mouse," Blake started.

"Which you want, right? Get it, 'cause you're a cat?" Yang said teasingly, ignoring Ruby and Weiss' groans.

Blake barely spared her a glance and continued, "and the other can do the walking."

"Walking's the arrow keys?" Yang asked.

"No, 'WASD'." Ruby answered.

"Okay, I'll take movement then."

Weiss considered, "I suppose it'll be easier for me then to take the mouse then. Yang, shut up." Weiss added as she opened her mouth, preemptively cutting her off of whatever pun she would have made.

"Okay then, let me reset the game and you two can start." Blake exited out of the game and pulled out the earphones, and then turned up the volume. "Sorry Ruby."

"That's okay. I'll handle it." Ruby said, taking her position on her bed, more relaxed than before. Weiss looked at her. _She does look sort of adorable like that… What are you thinking Weiss?!_

Yang pulled up a chair on the left of Weiss. "Okay, let's do this!"

Weiss glanced at Yang, "Just don't mess up."

"I highly doubt that'll happen in this game… what is it again?"

"It's over there," Blake pointed out. Weiss clicked on it.

"'Slender- The Eight Pages'… Slender? Really? What's that?"

Ruby and Blake looked at each other in confusion. "We… really don't know. It's just some man that is in the games and collects the pages from you." _Oh this is just too good,_ Blake thought evilly.

"Blake! I just realized, 'Slender' and he's a man! Slenderman!" Ruby said excitedly, finally having a name for the… _Okay, don't think too hard about him Ruby, he's scary._

"That works." Blake admitted.

Meanwhile Yang and Weiss had looked over the controls and started the game. "Alright, we'll have to work as a team to have a _sledner_ chance of winning."

"Just… stop with the puns." Weiss moaned.

The main menu opened up and the music came through the dorm of Team RWBY. Ruby squeaked and hid under the pillow, not liking the sound. Blake watched Yang and Weiss' reactions.

She was not disappointed.

* * *

"Oh goddamnit, this is a horror game isn't it?" Yang shouted in dismay as the menu came up.

"What, a horror game? I don't think that…" Weiss tried to get out of this.

"You already started playing, can't back out now!" Blake said with glee.

Yang and Weiss glared at Blake. Ruby popped up again, "Don't worry, it'll be…" She trailed off mysteriously.

"Ruby?" Weiss prompted, not liking that she drifted off.

"Just start the game," was Ruby's short response.

"Oh well, let's do this then! Weiss, hit start."

"_Hmph,_ fine." The game started with the now familiar 'Parsec Productions' label, then 'Presents', and finally 'Slender-The Eight Pages'.

"Okay, sounds like we're walking out at night then," Weiss commented.

"I don't know why we're climbing over this fence," Yang said as the title rolled away. "If it were me I'd bust through it and-"

"Introduce yourself with some bad pun I'm sure." Weiss muttered.

"Hey, you threw off the pun!"

"Was there even one there?" Weiss asked.

"There was going to be. Each one is its own re-_word_," Yang defended, throwing in another pun.

"Right. The next pun that comes out of your mouth-" Weiss started.

"Will get some _pun_-isment?" Yang said with that stupid smirk of hers. Ruby giggled at that, somewhat muffled as her mouth was in the pillow. Even Blake snorted a bit.

_Goddamnit Yang. She's so quick-witted in the worst way. _Weiss gave up and noticed the goal of the game on the screen. "Only eight? That doesn't seem like a lot."

Yang shook her head, "Nope, not really. Which way should we go?"

Weiss moved the mouse so they were facing left then. "This way."

"Alright, here we go! Going to find the Slenderman's diary thingy." Yang started walking forward. "Sounds like we're stepping on cereal," Yang commented after half a second.

"It… kinda' does." Weiss grudgingly admitted. "It is a nice night though." She made the person look up at the sky.

"Hey, watch it, I can't see where we're going!" Yang grouched.

"We're in the middle of a forest walking down a dirt path, there's not much else to see." Weiss however did lower the flashlight back in front of them though, just in time to see that creepy tree.

"That looks different."

"Probably a page on it," Weiss commented as they strafed around the tree, their feet crunching the ground.

After making a full circle around the tree, Yang added, "Or not. Oh wait, there!" Indeed there was a page. Yang moved forward and to the side a bit so Weiss could click it. The page said 'Don't Look… Or It Takes You', with a stick figure on the side.

"Well that's encouraging." Weiss muttered as she clicked the page.

Pages 1/8.

And then that echoing drum noise started again for the third time that night.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

Ruby squeaked and hid under the pillow, having a mini-flashback to when she played. Blake twitched but otherwise didn't react.

"Oh great, they didn't even give us a roll off," Yang said.

"Let's just find the next page." Weiss pointed them in the direction they were going before they hit the tree. _Dust, that thumping noise is starting to get to me and I haven't even been playing for that long,_ Weiss thought. They followed the path and soon came to a truck with a trailer behind it.

"Well that's normal for being in the middle of the woods." Yang said.

"Surprisingly that is true," Blake said. _Though most of the trucks we found were covered in claw marks and completely unusable,_ she thought back to her time in the White Fang.

They started walking around the truck when Yang said, "Wait, look back to the front of the truck," Weiss obliged her. "What brand is that truck?" Yang asked as she looked at it.

Weiss just stared incredulously at her. "Does it really matter? We need to find the next page."

Yang zoomed in and said, "It looks like a 'C' and a 'D' merged together."

"What does?"

"The logo on the truck."

"It's nothing! It's gibberish! I'm pretty sure the truck in this game isn't actually a model!" Weiss shouted at Yang. _Dust we've only been playing this for a few minutes, how are we going to beat the game? _

"Meh, it's not like I'd drive that or anything. I have too much class for that thing," Yang said, finally giving up looking at it and moving to the left. Weiss just growled and pushed her frustration away. It didn't help that the constant thumping noise was still going on. They moved to the side of the trailer and saw another page.

"Yes, another page!" This one said 'Always Watches… No Eyes' with a circle that had two 'x's where the eyes might have gone. Weiss clicked it.

Pages 2/8.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

"We're doing really well I think." Yang said.

"As well as we did," Ruby mentioned.

"Hey, let us feel good about ourselves for a little while," she shot back.

Weiss and Yang continued forward, or at least forward in a general direction. "Okay, where are we? All I see are trees."

"We're in a forest, of course there's trees!" Weiss grounded out.

"But I mean, do you know where we're going? Because I don't."

"No, I don't, but we're going in this direction and I'm sticking with it."

_That's a change from the Emerald forest, _Ruby thought with a hint of a smile.

After a minute, Weiss had better luck as they came across a blue tanker truck. "Another truck?"

"The last one was better."

"Yeah, no one cares." Weiss said.

"Hey, don't dis vehicles, otherwise you might get _tired_."

Everybody blinked. "Okay Yang, that was really bad."

"Then don't say anything about vehicles." Weiss sighed in frustration; her hackles rising even further, not helped by the game's audio.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

They went around the truck, but after doing a complete circle, they didn't see anything. "Okay then, there's nothing." Yang said.

Well, almost nothing.

"Ah, that was him!" Weiss shouted in fright, seeing a faceless man at the edge of the flashlight's vision. .

"Where where where?" Yang repeated urgently, not seeing the thing.

Then the screen 'blipped'.

Ruby yelped and hid under the pillow again. Blake did a small jump in her chair, getting a small smile out of it afterwards. _Yep, definitely a good game. _

"AHHHHHH! GO GO GO GO GO!" Yang started screaming as she slammed the sprint button and Weiss directed where they went, after she got her hand under control from jerking around. "Holy fuck I didn't see him, did you see him?" Yang apparently lost control of her mouth by this point, but nobody seemed to mind right then.

Weiss nodded, "I saw him and then it went 'bleep'!"

"We need to go now!"

"You're the one with the keyboard!"

"Well you're steering us into the forest and we've lost sight of the path!"

"That sprint threw me off, we're staring at the stupid ground and I can't see where we're going!"

Yang let off on the sprint and everyone could hear the character's heavy breathing. "Well there, have some fun!" She threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Don't stop!" Weiss shouted in a panic.

"I stopped for a second, shut up." Yang growled at Weiss. She took control of the keyboard again and they started walking aimlessly.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

"Ah! It's the fence, it's a dead end." Weiss moaned.

"Well then turn the other damn way!" Yang shot back. Weiss' eye twitched again, more violently this time. However she did turn the other way back into the forest.

"There!" After a minute of wandering, they saw a concrete tube.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Yang said.

"Well suck it up and let's go." They went inside the tube and on the other end they saw another note. This one said…

"'Can't Run.' Yea we literally can't run more than a few feet without this girl busting a gut or something." Yang said as they picked it up.

Pages 3/8.

The sound changed so that there was a droning noise in the background in addition to the thumping. Ruby groaned again and retreated further into her pillow.

"Hey, just out of curiosity, how many pages did you two get?" Weiss asked.

"Well, I got four," Ruby said.

"Five." Blake said for herself.

Weiss made a non-committal noise and moved her flashlight so they were walking somewhat diagonally from where they came.

Static rapidly started forming on the screen, with the classic whining sound following. "Uh oh, turn around turn around turn around!" Yang said, panicked.

"On it!" Weiss made a sharp left and they continued that way, with Yang using the sprint again. The static went down and disappeared. "So he pops up randomly?"

"No, he follows," Ruby said. "Always watches."

"Okay Ruby, we get enough of that from the game. Don't need that from you."

Ruby blinked twice. "Oh. Sorry. Didn't realize…" She trailed off.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

After another minute or two the flashlight was becoming noticeably dimmer. "Okay seriously, I want to burn this fuuuu-ricking forest to the ground," Yang growled out, watching her language, "but all we have is a flashlight that running out of batteries."

"I understand and want to do the same thing too." Weiss said.

"Like when you burned part of the Emerald Forest?" Ruby chimed in.

"That was your fault."

"Hey! No it wasn't!" Ruby defended herself from her bed overhead.

"You got in my way!" Weiss turned around and glared at her partner.

"You were taking too long!"

"Speaking of taking too long, Weiss, we're currently running into a tree." Yang interrupted.

"Oh whoops!" Weiss corrected that and they found themselves in a small clearing with six wooden poles, one of which had a page on it. "Yes!" They went over to it and gave it a glance. This one had a drawing of the Slenderman in the center with two columns of 'No No No No No No's on either side.

Pages 4/8.

"Halfway there!"

"Livin' on a prayer?"

"Actually, yes. Yes we are." Weiss said.

That ended abruptly.

Suddenly there was a slamming piano noise and everybody jumped. But even more so when the screen rapidly filled with static until Slenderman's face appeared behind the static.

Pages 4/8.

Click to Continue.

There was silence in the room at the abrupt end, made even more noticeable without the constant sounds the game made.

"ARGH! Goddamnit!" Weiss shouted and stood up in frustration. Yang just hit her head on the desk, avoiding the keyboard of course, and kept her face there.

"Wow, you guys didn't even make it to the bathroom," Ruby commented.

"Now that we've played, I it that might have been a good thing we ended there," Weiss said as her heart rate calmed down a bit.

"Yeah, not playing that again." Yang said, her face still on the desk.

"I think that's the last time we will anyway," Blake said as she gently moved Yang out of the way so she could quit the game and shut down the computer. "I think that it's time that we got some rest."

"Yea, we need it." Yang said, finally lifting her head up, a red mark on her forehead.

"I'm going to get ready for bed then," Weiss said and made her way to the bathroom.

"Okay then."

* * *

After everybody was done with the bathroom, Ruby found herself on her bed with her diary open in front of her. Hmm, where to start? Ruby thought as she chewed slightly on the pen. After a moment she started writing.

_Today was awesome! During breakfast, my plans for today got derailed slightly but we had one epic food fight with Team JNPR, which I won by myself! Ha! Take that!_

_Anyway, the rest of the day was just as fun. We played several games and JNPR got invited over many times. _

_Towards the end of the day, I went into Vale to try and get something to end the day with. I ended up getting three- no four games, three were for the Team, the last one I'll get to in a moment. Team JNPR and my team played Super Crash. Bros., the new one, until Weiss, Yang, Ren, and Nora decided to get food. _

_At this point I decided to play the game I had bought on a whim, called 'Slender- The Eight Pages'. I don't know why exactly I bought it, but it caught my eye for some reason. So I sat down and started playing. _

_I didn't realize it was a scary game! The purpose of the game is to collect 8 pages. I don't know what happens next because none of us have gotten past 5 yet, and that was Blake. I got 4 on my play, and don't want to play that game again. When you collect your first page you start being chased by a thing, which we called the Slenderman. It's scary because he doesn't have a face and has really long arms, and the music and sound just gives me the shivers. _

_And the pages are creepy too, like there's one that says 'always watches, no eyes' and another that says 'don't look or it takes you'. _

_Anyway, after I played it, Blake took a turn, then both Yang and Weiss played at the same time. They were going at it, with each other anyway. There were a lot of bad words, but nothing I haven't heard Yang mutter when she thinks I'm not around. Not going to let her know that though! (Or Dad!) Tee-hee! _

_So, I'm pretty sure that we're not going to play it again. Although maybe I'll kidnap Jaune and force him to play. Nah, he's too nice, I can't do that to him. Slender is just going to stay on that computer until it dies. Probably for the best. _

_Although it was… I don't know. I can't describe it. Fun? Maybe? Well, yes, but I'm thinking of something else. _

_Oh well, I guess that does it for today, goodnight me!_

Ruby giggled at the ending and just sat there with the pen moving absently on the paper. I wonder what we're going to be doing tomorrow? Ruby shrugged and took the pen away and closed her diary, replacing it in her trunk and curled up in her bed.

A few minutes later she was asleep like the rest of her team.

Unknown to her, in her diary she had just drawn a sketchy stick figure with long arms and no face.

* * *

***: True story, I worked at a camp where they served Tater-tot Casserole. Past tense. It was overwhelmingly voted out of the meals by both the staff and the campers.**

* * *

**Well, I learned something in this chapter, puns are hard. I hope I did an okay job with this. **

**I'm not really one to beg for reviews, but I have 15 favorites and 20 followers, yet no reviews. If you could, please drop me a line to say what you like/don't like or what you'd like to see. Your comments might change the story! Heck, I'll even take those "Please Update more" reviews that say nothing else. **

**Anyway, until next time: Read, Review, Favorite, Follow (R.R.F.F)**

**-OrangeGalen**


	5. Welcome to Beacon

**Hey everybody, this came a little later than intended, but I thought of about five new stories that I'm now working on (and that's excluding the other ones). So anyway, this chapter is mostly Volume 2, Chapter 2: Welcome to Beacon, which, by the title of this chapter, you could tell this is from. **

**Let's hop in!**

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**Disclaimer: I do not make a profit off RWBY or Slender. Especially RWBY. Please no sue me. **

* * *

_She was walking around in Emerald Forest. It was a nice night; the crickets were chirping, a dog was barking somewhere, and the stars shone brightly up above in the sky. She had a smile as she turned her flashlight on and continued walking. Where she was walking, she had no idea. _

_A breeze picked up some leaves and startled her for some reason. _Why was I scared of that? _Her heart rate seemed to speed up as she continued. The longer she went, the more she felt that she could feel something behind her. Not being able to take it he turned swiftly around, her flashlight shining in the dark, but was only met with more trees and blackness. _

_Something pressed her to continue on. Turning away, she walked further into the forest. She couldn't hear anything anymore. No dogs barking. No crickets. No breezes. The air was still from anticipation. However, there was an oppressive weight lying on her shoulders as she continued, making it harder to walk. Many times she turned around to look behind her, but still saw nothing. She _knew_ there was something out there. _

_Finally she came to a different scene. A clearing. _Thank goodness. My flashlight is dying on me so maybe I can take a rest._ She went further into the clearing, but suddenly a tree appeared in front of her. It was completely bare except for the main branches. She couldn't help but be transfixed by the tree. It was drawing her closer…_

There! _That feeling was back greater than ever. Gripping her flashlight, she spun and brought it up._

_Suddenly she wished she hadn't. _

_It was there in front of her. Its faceless head towering over her, the flashlight bringing its unnaturalness into illumination. She froze, and in that moment it reached for her, its hand outstretched as it covered her face…_

* * *

"Gyahh!" Ruby woke up with a gasp that managed to startle Weiss who had stood up a moment before, stretching with a yawn, causing her to also make an exclamation of surprise.

Yang smirked from her bed, "Geeze Ruby, I know Weiss is scary, but she's not _that_ scary."

"Hey!" The white-haired heiress eloquently shot back.

"Wha…?" Ruby was also not very articulate and shook her head to try and get some sense into her sleep-addled and nightmare recovering brain.

"I think Ruby was just startled to see Weiss' arms in her face as the first thing she saw." Blake said.

"No, wha- I don't think… It wasn't that." Ruby said, finally making a coherent sentence. "It was just a dream." _A nightmare really, except it's day now, so a daymare? Ugh, too early to think about this. _

"Bad dream?" Yang asked.

"Yea…"

"Want to talk about it?"

"Nah, it's stupid. It's about that game we played last night." Ruby admitted.

"Ah-bup-bup, say no more, completely understand." Yang stretched, still in her pajamas. "So, what's the game plan for today? Last day before second semester begins. I heard that some of the other competitors for the Vytal Festival are arriving today, including those from Atlas."

"Shouldn't we revise some of our previous work?" Weiss asked. "Since it is going to be the second semester, we should study extra hard, especially you Ruby," Weiss pointed out, "as you should set a good example for the rest of the team."

"Oh come on Weiss, we deserve a break. We've been working hard all last semester…" Weiss rolled her eyes and Ruby caught the meaning. "Okay there may or may not have been a slip-up or two, but with all the crazy stuff that's been happening with Torchwick and the White Fang, we could use the distraction."

Weiss sighed, knowing that Ruby was right, but unhappy about it. They deserved at least the weekend.

Blake however was reminded that the events at the shipping docks _did _happen. _How could I forget? The White Fang working with Torchwick and stealing massive amounts of Dust. How did the Fang come to this? What are they trying to do? _

Unknowing of Blake's inner turmoil the rest of the team started talking about what they were going to do that day. "We _should_ go to the library. At least that way we could get some studying in while we're at it." Weiss said.

"Okay, library's a good start, but then what?" Yang asked.

"Oh! We could play _Remnant: The Game_!" Ruby exclaimed.

"A board game?" Weiss asked with some trepidation.

"Ah sure, it'll be fun. Whadya' say Blake?" Yang directed towards the raven-haired girl.

"Huh? Oh, I uh, think we should get breakfast first before anything else." Blake said, recovering from her thoughts.

"Good idea. Maybe we can avoid a food fight like yesterday?" Weiss asked.

"Only if Nora stops throwing food at me." Yang said.

"You were encouraging her first off, and second maybe you should stop with the bad puns then."

"My puns are good, you just don't have enough appreciation for them. They're beyond your _pun_-prehending."

"Dear Oum," was more or less the universal message the groans gave.

"Let's just go." Ruby muttered and jumped down from her precariously hanging bed.

It was no small miracle as to how it hasn't fallen down yet. Somewhere, the person who wrote the laws on modern physics would probably be scratching his or her head trying to wrap their mind around how it was still staying up.

Anyway, it took the team a little bit to get ready as they all needed to use the shower and get dressed, but they've worked out a system which had Yang going first, since she took care of her hair the longest, then Weiss, Blake, and finishing off with Ruby because she's the fastest and honestly has the least amount of hair to worry about.

In the end they got to the cafeteria at their normal time. There was a bit of tension in the air as RWBY entered, since JNPR was already in there, and the rest of the students were afraid of another RWBY vs. JNPR nightmare apocalyptic food fight.

Knowing they could feel it, Yang loudly announced to the people in their general vicinity, "Don't worry, we're not going to play with our food today!" There was an audible sigh of relief from the other students as RWBY made their way to get their food, and they went back to their meals. Carrying their trays, RWBY headed to JNPR and sat across from them.

"Sooooo, what're you guys doing today?" Ruby asked as she set her tray down.

"Not another food fight, even if that's what you want." Pyrrha said jokingly.

"Not today, maybe an end of year one though. As a sorta' celebration."

"That'll be funtastic!" No need to mention who said _that_ line.

"Anyway," Jaune said, ignoring the Yang, "We'll be in the library reviewing some stuff from last semester."

"See, they're doing it!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Weiss, we've been over this," Ruby complained.

"Humph." Weiss crossed her arms and turned her head. Ruby grinned a bit at Weiss' reaction, liking the way she did that.

"Anyway, we were thinking of trying a new board game out so we might see you in the library later," Ruby said, turning back to JNPR.

"Alrighty then, let's have a good last day before the second semester kicks off," Pyrrha said.

The rest of the meal was spent like how most of their meals went: Blake and Ren eating quietly with occasional input, Yang and Weiss debating certain topics of schooling and what point with Yang making jokes/puns that were either okay (never good) or made people want to throw rotten fruit at her, which they didn't because that would cause another food fight. Ruby somehow started discussing with Nora about the best pancakes there were (Nora's was original with loads of syrup and Ruby's whipped cream and strawberries), while Jaune making small talk with anyone available with Pyrrha supporting him (honestly, everyone except Jaune could see her crush on him).

Eventually _it_ came up. Of all people it was Nora that brought it up. "So Blake, why'd ya scream last night? Were you attacked by a dog? Was that it? You should have left it to me, I'm great with animals!"

"Nora, you lost your pet hamster because you set it on the ground _outside_." Ren said.

"Mr. Fluffy Death will come back one day!" Nora declared.

"Wait, _Blake screamed_?" Jaune asked, not believing that news.

Blake had the decency to blush a little bit, "I did." She admitted.

"Whoa," Jaune murmured in awe. "What brought that on?"

"We were playing a game Ruby bought last night," Weiss said, "and let me just say that I will not be playing that again, especially with Miss. Xiao Long."

"Whoa, hey, back up there Weiss, we did pretty good. What was it, four out of eight pages? That's half of Slendy's diary right there."

They were all distracted when Jaune fell off the bench. "Jaune?" Pyrrha said in concern for her crus- _leader_.

Jaune peaked his head above the table so only his blue eyes were visible. "Did you just say 'pages'? As in collect all eight?"

"Uhh, yep?"

Jaune's eyes held absolute fear in them and turned to Ruby, "Why would you buy that game?!" His voice held a hint of hysteria.

"Uhh… by accident and curiosity and it was only eight lien in the store?" Ruby listed off, scratching the back of her head. "Why?"

"It's _evil_…"

Yang smirked, "It sorta' follows you around right?"

Jaune disappeared under the table with a whimper.

"Oh get up and stop embarrassing your team," Weiss said and kicked him under the table, eliciting an _'ouch'_ from Jaune. He reluctantly sat back normally on his seat.

"Sounds like you have experience with that game," Pyrrha said, her voice trying to hold back her amusement.

"Yeah… you could say that."

* * *

Flashback- Five Years Ago.

_"Here Jaune, I bought you a new game!" Alexander Arc said, handing his son a game. _

_"Yay! Thanks Dad!" Jaune happily took the game and looked at the title. _

_"I should warn you, it's a little scary, but it should toughen you up." His dad warned, a smile playing on his face. _

_"I'll play it!"_ I'm not scared! _Jaune thought._

Ten Minutes later…

_"AHHHHHHH! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! WHERE'S ITS FACE! AHHH, WHY? I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE!"_

_Meanwhile outside his son's door, Alexander Arc was laughing his head off._

* * *

_Return to present_.

"It was… something."

"Huh, didn't realize the game was that old." Ruby thought out loud.

"Hey, drop by later and you guys could install it on your computer to play whenever," Yang offered.

"I'd like to try this game." Pyrrha said.

"Sounds intriguing." Ren commented.

"Can I break legs in this game?"

"NO." R_WY plus J_PR said at the same time.

"Aww…" Nora sat down dejected, until she took a bite of pancakes, then she was back to her normal self. Not that _that _version of normal applied to anyone else.

"Anyway, we've got things to do, so I guess we'll see you around!" RWBY had finished eating by then, so they got up (someone needed to nudge Blake to get her out of her thoughts) and headed back to their dorm so Ruby could grab _Remnant: The Game_.

Along the way however, they bumped into someone, almost literally.

"Oh, excuse me," the man said.

"Sorry! That was my fault! I wasn't watching where I was going," Ruby apologized sheepishly. RWBY took a good look at the man. He was a tall, middle aged man with black hair that had what her Uncle Qrow would call 'distinguished with experience' white hair on his sides. He was wearing a white overcoat, with a grey undercoat with a red tie. He also had a metal strip above his right eyebrow.

"That's quite alright, I'm sure you have somewhere you need to be," he said with humor in his voice.

"I'm sorry, again. I'm Ruby. And this is Weiss, Blake, and Yang." Ruby said, motioning to the rest of her team.

"I'm James Ironwood, the headmaster of Atlas' hunter school." He introduced himself.

"Oh, hello." Yang said.

"How do you do General," Weiss greeted him.

"Very well Miss Schnee," he said, familiar with the heiress.

"If I may ask, how is my sister?" Weiss asked.

"She is doing a phenomenal job and I am pleased to have her under my command," he said.

"I'm glad," Weiss nodded.

"So are you going to talk to Professor Ozpin?" Blake asked.

"Indeed, I'm on my way to his office right now."

"In that case, we won't keep you waiting. Sorry again again," Ruby said.

Ironwood gave a nod and a small smile and continued walking down the hallway.

"You dolt, you could have seriously damaged our reputation, running into the general like that!" Weiss exclaimed once he was out of earshot.

"Ah, it's fine. Besides, your sister apparently is chummy with him and she could straighten things out." Weiss just muttered to herself. "C'mon, we have stuff to do," Yang said and gave everyone a shove from behind to get them moving again.

* * *

_A little while later…_

The four of them were all around a square table with a board in the center. Each person had a hand of cards and different reactions. Weiss looked uncertain and confused. Yang looked confidant but was trying to keep a poker face. And Blake had her cards face down on the table and was looking preoccupied. Ruby looked at each of them before making her decision.

"Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"

"Bring it on!"

Ruby brought out a card and said, "I deploy the Atlesian air fleet!" Yang gasped. "Looks like I get to fly over your Ursi and attack your walls directly!" Ruby then made plane noises of destruction. _Yes! Fear my almighty fleet!_

"You fiend!"

Ruby got down to the board, "And, since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time only costs one turn." _I've got this game in the bag._ However she was thrown off by Yang's chuckling.

"Pretty sneaky Sis," she said, slowly bringing up a card, "but you just activated my Trap Card!" Ruby made some squeaky noise of disbelief. "Giant Nevermore!" Yang pounded her fist on the table, unfortunately knocking over _every single _game piece. _Dang it Yang!_ Ruby had other problems to worry about though.

"If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"

_Ah, I got her now!_ "But, if you roll a six or lower the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take." Yang grabbed the dice and vigorously shook them, not taking her eyes off Ruby. She let the dice go and… a nine! "Ha!"

"Nooooooooo! My fearless soldiers!"

"Most of them are probably androids." Yang commented.

"Goodbye my friends. _You will be avenged!_" Ruby vowed.

"Not until I draw my rewards, which are doubled this round, thanks to the Mistral trade route." Yang gloated.

"BAH!" Ruby grabbed a piece and tossed it in frustration.

"Oh, and what's this? The Smugglers of Wind Path!?"

"BAH! BAH! I SAY!" More pieces thrown.

"Looks like I'm taking two cards from your hand!"

"HAVE YOU NO HEART!?" Ruby laid her head on the desk and moaned in despair.

Yang, acting like nothing was wrong, turned to Weiss and said, "Well Weiss, it's your turn!"

The heiress looked at her hand and then at the board. "I have… absolutely no idea what's going on," she finally decided.

Yang slid over to Weiss, "Look, it's easy! You're playing as Vacuo which means all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus."

"That sounds dumb," Weiss stated.

Yang reached out and moved Weiss' cards around, "See… you've got Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge…- oh oh! Resourceful Raider! See now you can take Ruby's discard airfleet-"

Ruby was crying rivers at this point.

"-and put it in your hand!"

"O…kay?" Weiss was still uncertain as to what was going on.

"And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance boost against natural hazards," Yang continued, "you could use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces _and_ simultaneously infiltrate my Kingdom!" _You have to hand it to Yang, she's good at explaining how games work even if it's against her chances at winning._

"Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war." _But her threats make up for it._

"And that means…?" Weiss was still not getting the point.

"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!" Ruby cried out, knowing _exactly_ where she stood in this game.

_That_ got Weiss' attention. She laughed manically. "Yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as the pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms!"

"Trap card." Yang interrupted Weiss tirade.

"Huh?"

A few swift movements later and Yang declared, "Your armies have been destroyed."

Weiss sat down heavily, crying rivers as well. "I hate this game of emotions we play!"

Ruby glommed onto Weiss, "Stay strong Weiss, we'll make it through this together."

"Shut up, don't touch me!" Weiss said, her actions going counter to her words as she hugged Ruby, drawing comfort in their mutual despair. Secretly and unknowingly they both enjoyed it more than they appeared to.

Yang, completely oblivious turned to Blake, "Alright Blake, you're up!"

Blake was brought back to reality at the sound of her name. "Huh? Oh, umm…" She looked at her cards. "Sorry, what am I doing?"

"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the kingdoms of Remnant." Yang explained. On the opposite corners of the table, Weiss and Ruby seemed to have broken out of their sadness and had separated, returning to their seats.

"Right…" Blake said, about as enthusiastic as Weiss was.

"Hey! Can I play?" They all turned and saw Jaune at the edge of their table.

"Sorry Jaune," Ruby apologized, "We've already got four people."

"Besides," Weiss said, or bragged, depending on how you took it, "this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt you possess." _And there's the insult._

"Uhh… you attacked your own naval fleet two turns ago," Yang pointed out. Weiss just groaned.

"Bring it on Ice Queen!" Jaune challenged. "I'll have you know that I've been told that I'm a natural born leader!"

"By who, your mother?"

"A-and Pyrrha." Jaune said.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha said from the table a little away from them.

"Come on, let me play your hand for a turn." Jaune begged.

Weiss leaned back, "I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo."

"Why not? You've trusted me with _way_ more important stuff before." Pyrrha looked up from her book as she realized Jaune wasn't being as tactful as he could be. "I mean you told us all that Blake is secretly a Fau-"

Pyrrha got to him just in time. "Fun loving person whom we all admire and respect!"

No-one was fooled and they turned to Blake to see her reaction.

She just glared. She probably would have growled a bit if it was a bit more.

"Right… that." Jaune laughed nervously, now realizing his blunder. "Ladies…" he bowed dramatically, "enjoy your battle."

"'Sup losers." Another voice came in, this time from Sun Wukong who was standing behind Blake to the right.

"Hey Sun," Ruby greeted.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake…" Sun also greeted. "Ice Queen…"

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?!" Weiss exclaimed.

They noticed another person standing next to Sun, with blue hair and a red jacket and aviator goggles on his head. "I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend."

"Uhh, aren't libraries for reading?" Blue haired guy commented.

"THANK YOU!" Ren shouted in exasperation. _Someone finally gets it! _

There was a loud snore and Nora woke up with 'Pancakes' coming out of her mouth.

"Shut up, don't be a nerd." Sun said.

Blue haired man cut him off, "Intellectual. Okay? Thank you." He turned to the people gathered around. "I'm Neptune," he finally introduced himself.

"So Neptune, where you're from?" Weiss asked, her tone… different. Ruby didn't like it.

"Haven." He walked over to Weiss and said softly, "And I don't believe I've caught your name, Snow Angel."

"Umm, I'm Weiss." She said, obviously flattered with the name. Now Ruby really didn't like it.

"Are you kidding me?" Jaune ground out, feeling the same way. Neptune was getting farther than he ever had. At this rate she just might give him the time of day.

"Pleasure to meet you," Neptune said.

Sun leaned over and said to Blake, "I never took you as the board game playing type."

Blake just said, "Right…" She brushed his arm away so she could stand up and said, "Well, I think I'm done playing actually." She started walking away. "I'll see you guys later."

There was silence as Sun shrugged his shoulders in the obvious question.

Nora broke the silence. "Women."

No-one could even attempt to start to point out the obvious irony to her.

* * *

_Hours later…_

Blake was sitting alone in Team RWBY's dorm, reminiscing about the night after the docking port incident and the talk she had with Professor Ozpin when RW_Y came in.

"Ugh! We should have never let him play!" Yang grouched.

Ruby laughed, "You're just mad since the new guy beat you. See if you had just attacked when I told you none of this would have happened."

While the two sisters didn't see Blake attempting to move away, the other member of their team did.

"Stop." Weiss commanded just as Blake's hand reached for the door handle. "Lately you've been quiet, anti-social, and moody."

"Uhhh, have you met Blake?" Yang said. She wasn't wrong.

"Which, I get, is kind of your 'thing', but you've been doing it more than usual, which, quite frankly, is unacceptable. You made a promise to me, to all of us, that you would let us know if something was wrong. So, Blake Belladonna!" Weiss whole demeanor changed as she jumped up and somehow landed on a chair, balancing it from tipping over, pointing at Blake, "What is wrong?!" After a moment, she seemed to realize what happened and jumped off the chair and put it back at the computer desk.

They all waited for Blake to explain. She was having a hard time getting it out. "I just… I don't understand how everyone can be so calm."

"You're still thinking about Torchwick?" Ruby asked, going serious.

"Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it!" Once the dam had opened… "Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!"

"Ozpin told us not to worry," Yang said. "Between the police and the Huntsmen I'm sure they can handle it."

"Well I'm not!" Blake shouted. "They don't know the White Fang like I do."

The team looked at each other before Weiss put out her hands. "Okay, between blowing up night clubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the three of you think you're all ready to go our and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells…"

"Ah, who?" Ruby asked, confused about the term.

"But let me once again be the voice of reason: we're _students_. We're not ready to handle this sort of situation."

"Well, yea, but-" Ruby started.

"We're not ready!" Weiss insisted, cutting her off.

"And we may never be ready!" Blake shouted again. "Our enemies aren't just gonna' sit around and wait for graduation day. They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's coming, whether we're ready or not," Blake swore.

"Okay," Ruby started, getting into leader mode, "All in favor of becoming the youngest huntresses to single-handedly bring down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale… say 'aye'!" She finished all of that in one breath.

"Yes!" Yang fist-pumped, getting the energy. "I love it when you're feisty!"

"Well, I suppose it could be fun," Weiss pondered.

"None of you said 'aye'," Ruby bemoaned.

"Alright then…" Blake said, sounding happier than before, "We're in this together."

"Let's hatch a plan!" Ruby announced.

"Yeah!" Yang said, pointing to Ruby.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Ruby. "I left my board game in the library!" She said in horror. _Who knows what could happen to it?_

"We're doomed." Weiss said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Ruby ran out of her dorm, "Ill be right back!" She went down the hall…

And once again bumped into somebody. "Oh come on, really? Second time today?" She looked up "Oh, sorry… are you okay?"

The girl that she bumped into held out a hand for her to grab. "I'm fine. Just watch where you're going." She had brown skin and teal green hair, with deep red eyes. She was wearing a black overcoat with a black and grey plaid skirt, apparently a uniform. The grey haired man next to her was wearing similar clothes, except he had pants for the man version.

"Oh, right, sorry." Ruby took the hand and got up. "Um, I'm Ruby! Are you new?

"Visiting from Haven, actually." A new, more feminine voice came from behind the teal haired girl and she stepped aside, revealing a woman with long black hair that covered her left eye, making her yellow and orange revealed eye more prominent.

Ruby looked at her for a moment. _Why do I get the feeling I've met her?_ Then she realized something, "Ooooh, you're here for the festival!" Then she realized something else. "Oh, but exchange students have their own dormitory."

"I guess we just got turned around," the man said.

"Ah ha ha, don't worry, happens all the time." Ruby laughed it off. "Your building is juuuuust East of here." Ruby recalled.

"Thanks." The black haired woman followed the other two who had already moved on. "Maybe we'll see you around." She said. For some reason, the way she said that sent shivers down Ruby's spine, and not the good kind.

"Yea, maybe!" She brushed it off with some effort. Then Ruby realized yet another thing. "OH! And welcome to Beacon!" She waved goodbye but they didn't look back and turned around a corner.

"Interesting people," Ruby muttered. _I don't know. I got a weird vibe from around them. Maybe it's nothing, yea, that's probably it. Oh! My game!_ Ruby took off down the corridors again, hoping her game was still there.

* * *

**Whelp, that's another chapter. Next time, it'll be Ruby's second attempt! Have some fun with that!**

**Anywho, another upload at midnight for me. Don't know why I chose that time for updating...**

**So, R.R.F.F! (Read. Review. Favorite. Follow.) And please let me hear your thoughts...**

**-OrangeGalen**


	6. Ruby Plays: Second Attempt

**Hello~ I'm back! Thanks for the positive reviews you've left and everybody who favorited/followed since the last chapter. Glad to see people are enjoying this story!**

**Speaking of stories, I uploaded a new RWBY story (Technically yesterday) called Stark Contrast, so please go check that out!**

**Edit: Oh and one last thing, I lowered the rating of this story for the time being (like I said in the edit at chapter 1) but it will go back up later as things get more intense. **

**Okay, that's enough. Onto the chapter**

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**Disclaimer: Red like Roses fills my head with dreams of owning RWBY and Slender. However, they're just dreams and will stay that way. **

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Ruby reached the library in record time _without_ using her semblance (okay there might have been a few stray rose petals behind her, but that's beside the point). Thankfully it was still open so she burst through the doors and made a beeline for the table they were using earlier. She stopped right before she got there though.

"Really?" She said dryly.

Four sets of eyes looked up at her question. Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, and Jaune were all sitting around the table playing _Remnant: The Game_. Specifically, they were playing after numerous requests for them to join in (except for Jaune who was surprisingly good). Even more specifically, they were playing _her_ game without asking.

"Oh, uhh, heyyyyyy Ruby," Jaune said awkwardly, deer-in-the-headlights look full on. "We, uhh, were just making sure that, uhh, your game wasn't taken or anything. Just protecting our kingdom- I mean, your game! Heh heh…" He rubbed the back of his neck. He immediately deflated and gave up. "Okay fine. We should have asked you first. Sorry." He hung his head down.

Throughout it, Ruby was trying to keep a stern face, but at the last bit she snorted a bit and smiled. "It's fine if you play, just make sure that all the pieces are back and bring it around sometime later." She paused. "Weren't you all studying before?"

"Yea, well we decided to take a break." Jaune said, with Ren giving him a glare as if to say, 'who's this _we_ you speak of?'

"Yea! It's been awesome!" Nora said, "Jaune won the first game, but then Pyrrha took the second and it looks like it's anyone's game now!"

Ruby's smirk grew larger. "Three games in a break?"

"It's been a long break."

Ruby giggled, "Just make sure it gets back to me, preferably within the week, and intact with all the cards and pieces. Otherwise, have _fun_!"~ Ruby gave a wave and went out of the library, with a 'thanks!' coming from behind her.

With no reason to rush, Ruby took a leisurely stroll back to her dorm room. _Well, today has been productive: we played some games, figured out what was wrong with Blake, resolved to take down the White Fang single-handedly, met some new people. I wonder what tomorrow's going to bring._ Ruby was almost skipping back to the dorm, humming a tune. _This whole weekend has been great as well! Relaxing after the Torchwick thingy at the docks, playing even more games, that massive food fight, hanging out with Team JNPR, playing that one game…_

That last thought cut her off short. _That game? Slender?_ That _was fun? _Ruby questioned her sanity at the moment of enjoying a scary game. _How did I find that fun? It was scary, not fun. Granted watching everyone_ else _play was funny, even if Yang and Weiss said some bad words. But I guess that made it even_ better.

_I'm still bummed that I didn't get all the pages though. But really, eight? That's crazy! And the Slenderman is just so… _Ruby shivered, _creepy…_ _What does he do, teleport around stalking you? For what? Taking those pages? Maybe Yang was right and it was Slendy's diary. Ha ha! You hear that Slendy? You're a little pre-teen girl!_ Ruby conveniently forgot at that moment that she also had a diary and was barely a few years out of the pre-teens.

_You know, I_ can _beat Slender. I_ will _beat Slender! That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to start up the computer, and play Slender and beat it!_ With a new confidence in her step, Ruby strode in through the door.

"Hey Rubes, where's your game?" Yang asked immediately. She was already in her bed and wearing her sleeping clothes. Blake was in her own bed, curled up with a book, much calmer now than before. Weiss was probably in the bathroom, considering the closed door and the sound of the faucet running.

"JNPR is using it. I'll get it back eventually."

"In how many pieces?" Yang asked pointedly.

"Hopefully not that many," Ruby said, getting her earphones and going over to the computer.

"What'cha doin'?"

"I'm going to beat Slender tonight," Ruby declared as she put in the earphones.

"Really?" Yang's eyebrow shot up at that. "I'm surprised, I thought it traumatized you."

"Yea… it did. But I can't have it unfinished you know? Then it'll just hang over me as something I haven't done yet."

"That's deep Rubes. Have fun with that."~ Yang rolled over in her bed to get a better look at the computer screen.

Ruby turned on the computer and started the monitor, and entered the password (T3amRWBY4Ever, if anyone wanted to know. Yang set it up!). The screen lit up and Ruby clicked on the Slender game icon that was on the desktop.

She looked down at the desk and saw the game case was still there, on its front, letting the crossed out circle be shown. _I'll beat you,_ Ruby vowed to it as she stared at the symbol. She shook her head as the configuration page popped up, but clicked 'Play' because nothing had been altered since last time.

As soon as the music started, Ruby lost almost all of the confidence she gave herself and groaned in her seat. _Oh no. Why? Why did I tell myself to play this game again?_ She hesitantly clicked 'Start game' and the familiar crunching sound of the character walking started.

Ruby didn't need to see the intro again so she clicked the mouse once and the game started. 'Collect all 8 pages'. _Okay. If I remember correctly, I went left last time. Lets see if going right makes any difference._ Ruby turned right and started walking down the quasi-dirt path the game had, scanning left and right for anything odd.

She found the first thing a little bit later, which was that red pillar thing. Ruby circled clockwise around the thing and made a half rotation before finding the first page, which was the page that said 'Always watches, no eyes'.

Ruby took a deep breath and let it out in a semi-whine. _I can stop this now, _she thought, _spare me the terror that's coming. No shame in walking away… oh who am I kidding?_ She clicked the page.

Pages 1/8.

And…

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

…There it was.

Ruby groaned and sank into her chair. Unheard by her, Yang, Blake and Weiss, who had come out of the bathroom by then, all chuckled at Ruby's misfortune. Secretly however, they were all glad they weren't playing and hearing exactly what Ruby was hearing. Not that they would admit it to one another.

_Oh god why?_

That was the one thought going through Ruby's mind at the moment.

Well, not the _only_ one.

_Okay, keep going to the right and loop around the map. Keep to the roads otherwise you'll get lost._ Ruby did a 180 and went back to the road. It wasn't a minute later that she found a rock pile on the right side of the road. Even better was the page was on the road's side. "Yes!" Ruby went over to the page, which said 'Help Me' and clicked it.

Pages 2/8.

_Ha ha! Take that! One-fourth done! I can do this! I can do this! _Ruby continued her journey along the road and ignored the left path that she saw at one point and stayed the course.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

The path curved a bit, but Ruby saw a stone structure to the right and went over to it. It was a four walled… thingy. _Okay, since Slender follows me, I should go counter-clockwise so I could swing around to my next target_. Ruby started following her own advice and moved around. After getting past the first two corners, she found the page. _'Can't run' huh? Watch me,_ Ruby dared the game. _Oh wait, I move so slowly anyway… no depressing thoughts Ruby!_

Pages 3/8.

At that point, that droning noise started up again and Ruby needed to pause a moment and wipe her clammy hands off. She shivered, and not because of the temperature. _I hate this game. I really do. _Ruby continued her trek, now angling left of where she was going originally and now 'jogging' if going slightly faster than a melting stick of butter downhill could be called that.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

She relatively quickly came to the totem pole looking things and found the fourth page at the far end of the row. _Oh thank you thank you thank you, page four! _This one said 'Don't look… or it takes you'. Ruby clicked it.

Pages 4/8.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

_Well at least I've tied my score from last time, _Ruby thought. _Okay, so I could either go right or forward from here because if I recall there's that open field in the center. Which way do I-_

Her decision was made for her as she looked a little too far right and the screen started getting fuzzy. And at the edge of her flashlight vision, she could see him. Tall, faceless, with skin(?) as white as a Grimm's bone-plates, and long armed.

"AAAAHH!" Ruby faced the Slenderman fully and backed up, after some initial mouse shaking. She shimmied over and put one of those poles in-between her and it, just to put it out of sight. She was surprised when the static started going down. "Huh," _well that's interesting. Put a tree in front of you and face the thing. Now just go backwards and…_ Ruby hit 's' on the keyboard and went backwards, still facing the pole.

When she got a good distance away she turned around and found herself in the open clearing with those tanks in front of her. _Okay, there has to be a page here._ She looked down the rows and actually utilized the zoom function for the first time to see further and strafed right. The first row was a bust, but the second row had a telltale outline glow of a page. "Yes!" Ruby 'jogged' again towards the page, which said 'Follows'. _That it does. That it does. _

Pages 5/8.

_Yes! I beat my score from last time! _

But came the next part; a low, moaning wind sound came over the drone and the 'thumping', causing Ruby to wipe her hands again. She could actually feel sweat under her armpits, which just made her even more uncomfortable playing. Her breathing was becoming erratic, as like all the others who've played. _I really_, really, _hate this game._

She turned right, screamed, and jumped in real life as her screen 'blipped'. "AH! Go GO GO! I really hate this stupid game! Why did I buy this?!"

Behind her, Yang was rolling around in laughter, and _WB_ were chuckling to themselves.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

Ruby started sprinting but regretted it soon after. "Oh God, it's the bathroom. Oum just kill me now." Gritting her teeth, she entered the god-forsaken labyrinth. _Right's been good to me so far, so let's go that way._ She turned right, then right again when she came to the next corner and followed it. After a left this time, she came to a room. Directly across from her was another page. "YEAS! Thank you thank you thank you! This page said 'No No No No No No No No No No No No', which was basically what Ruby was thinking.

Pages 6/8.

Ruby started backtracking out of the bathroom, but when she turned a corner…

It was there. Right there.

The music slammed and the screen tilted upwards, rapidly filling with static as the screen looked at Slenderman's non-face.

You could imagine what Ruby's response was.

The earphones were ripped out of the computer and made their way across the room, narrowly missing Weiss, who ducked when she saw them coming, and Ruby fell out of the chair and curled into a fetal position, sobbing and rocking to herself.

Pages 6/8.

Click to Continue.

"Wow Ruby," Yang said after she got her laughing under control and managed to get her sister upright and cease sobbing, "you beat Blake's score. That's cool."

Ruby sniffed. "Punch me if I ever get the desire to play that game again," Ruby muttered.

"I'll do it you know," Yang said with a smirk. Ruby uncurled herself and gave Yang a hug, reminiscent of when they were younger.

"Thanks," Ruby said after a moment, then stood up and shook herself off. "Whelp, I'm going to get changed and all that jazz," she said to nobody in particular, obviously distracted.

"Goodnight Rubes," Yang said as Ruby went into the bathroom.

After she completed her nighttime rituals, Ruby ended up in her bed (still defying whatever laws of gravity there were) with her diary in front of her.

* * *

_Today was another awesome day. I met a couple new people today; the headmaster of Atlas' hunter school, Ironwood, and another was Sun's teammate, Neptune, who has blue hair! He seemed overly friendly to Weiss though, so I think he might have a thing for her. Grrr! It's almost like the stuff Jaune tries with her, except that it was_ _working_. _Anyway, we had a few epic games of_ _Remnant: The Game_ _and Jaune is surprisingly good at it. I didn't win a single game today, but next time vengeance will be mine! Muah-ha-ha!_

_Anyway, we found out what has been bothering Blake as well. She's like,_ _super_ _stressed out about the White Fang, so we as a team made a pact to singlehandedly take down the White Fang. And as Weiss put it, 'it should be fun.' But then I forgot my game in the library and ran into a couple transfer students from Haven. They were a little awkward to talk to, but who am I to judge? Am I right? They seemed okay enough, but there was something about them…_

_Nah, probably my imagination. _

_I found JNPR playing my game when I got to the library, so I let them keep it for a little bit and finish playing. _

_Somehow I convinced myself to play_ _Slender_ _again. Ugh, I don't know why I keep playing it, but I want to beat it. It's like, mocking me. So I have to beat it eventually. I think I know what to do though. I should start at the red thing then go to the bathroom from hell next, because you_ _do not_ _want to get stuck in there, then loop back to the right and finish up with a counter-clockwise sweep. That way I keep moving and get the high risk places first (i.e. the bathroom). _

_I'll keep that in mind, but I highly doubt I'll be playing that game again for a while. _

_I just hope I don't have another nightmare again. Stupid game. _

_Well, goodnight._

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Ruby finished writing and put the diary away. She rolled over with the sheets and was soon asleep.

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**Take two ended a little bit better for Ruby. Third times' the charm? You'll find out in time.**

**So it's after one for me, and I'll be going to sleep soon. Still don't know why I update so late...**

**Anyway, please Read, Review, Favorite, and Follow (R.R.F.F) No flame reviews though please. Constructive criticism, yes. And also don't forget to vote!**

**Until next time, (which will be _A Minor Hicup_ (not the whole thing though))!**

**-OrangeGalen**


	7. A Minor Panic

**Hello everybody! I'm back! It's been a year since my last update, but no longer! I went through what I've written and fixed some things (mainly grammatical and superficial fixes) and decided to put this story in the RWBYxSlender crossover section because it would be a better fit here. **

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**Disclaimer: They always watch with infinite eyes, waiting to see if we try to claim copyrights on their things so they can sue us. I'll beat them eventually, and then I'll be the one watching!... in my dreams...**

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**Edit: Thanks to the random guest that caught my mannequin/manikin typo. **

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**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

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_Is this the Emerald Forest? It looks different. And why am I out here at night with only a flashlight? Where's Crescent Rose? _

_Somehow that didn't concern her as much as it would have before. She started walking inwards to where the ruins might be for some reason. She really didn't know the route since she took the Nevermore Express with… W? Weiss. Yes, Weiss. Why was that so hard to remember? I think she's special for some reason…? Oh well. _

_The trees and bushes all started looking the same, but she didn't care. I'm looking for something. Somethings? Anywho, I better start looking! She looked around before picking a random direction and started walking that way. _

_She kept walking and looking around, searching. The moon seemed muted and distorted, the only light being from her flashlight. Everything started to feel as if it were closing in around her: the trees looming over her, the bushes stopping her from going a certain way. The very air seemed like it was suffocating her. _

_I need to hurry. I need to hurry. That was her thought. She started running, but she felt like she was going no faster than a light jog even though she was running as fast as she could. My Semblance isn't working! Panic started to set in, fogging her already addled mind. Let me find something! Anything! _

_She fell to the ground, tired and breathing heavily. She looked around and then saw the shadows start to shift, as if color dye was being added to water, spreading out like spider webs. Darkness reeked off of it. The thing shifted then something started to slither out into the air. Then another and another…_

_Then something grabbed her leg._

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"GYAHHH_AHHHH_!" Ruby bolted upright in her bed, crying out.

"Ruby!"

"Wah! Whatziz?"

"Son of a-!" Came the three different cries of Blake, Weiss, and Yang respectively. Ruby didn't really hear them as she sat on her bed panting, sweat dripping down her forehead. _What? What was that?_ She quickly looked under the covers to her legs, but there was nothing there except fabric.

"Ruby?" Came a voice. She looked over and saw her team in various states of disarray, all looking at her in concern.

"Huh?" Was Ruby's eloquent reply.

"What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Yang asked from her bed.

"…Oh, yeah, I'm sorry about that," Ruby said, now a little bit more coherent. She wiped her forehead, then she looked around and saw that it was still dark. "Um, what time is it?"

"About 3:30," Weiss said, sounding understandably grouchy.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Ruby said starting to panic again, this time on being the focus of the team's wrath. Weiss grumbled and crawled back into her bed, falling to sleep as soon as she pulled the blankets up.

"Don't worry about it," Yang said, also lying back. "What was the dream about? Nora eating all your cookies again?" She teased.

Ruby opened her mouth to explain but then stopped. _What will she think that I've been having nightmares about a _video game_? She'll probably poke fun at me before giving me a hug. Well, a hug does sound nice… nah, not this time unfortunately. I don't want to bug her. Plus… well, it's embarrassing. _"No it was the cookie monster one," Ruby said, using her fallback don't-want-to-talk-about-it nightmare avoidance scenario. It's worked every single time for the past few years.

"Ah," Yang said in an off hand tone, then rolled over and immediately went back to sleep with a slight snore. Blake was laid on her bed too, but in the moonlight Ruby could see the slight glow of her yellow eyes, signifying that they were still open and she was awake. _She looks like she's thinking about something,_ Ruby observed. She herself laid back on her hanging bed and sighed.

_And today was going to be an exciting day with our big plans to find out what the White Fang is doing. And it starts off like this? All because of a stupid video game giving me a nightmare. And I haven't even beaten the game yet! I need to put that on my to-do list…_ Ruby closed her eyes and somehow was able to go back to sleep for a couple of hours before classes started.

* * *

And those classes took forever. First there was History with Prof- _Doctor_ Oobleck, which is terrible to have first thing in the morning since he talks faster than a racecar on a Vacuo desert track, and moves at about the same speed around the classroom. Ruby liked the class and had always found history interesting and she was one of the few people who could keep up with Oobleck, both physically in note taking and mentally in understanding him, since her Semblance _was_ speed.

RWBY and JNPR had two running bets: who was faster (Ruby obviously betted on herself, but it wasn't as if they were going to find out since they didn't just ask a Professor, or teacher, to race a student), and what exactly Oobleck had in his coffee (Ruby bet on Grimm Energy Drink, but Yang insisted it was FireDust Whiskey, which would be completely unprofessional according to Weiss, not to mention against school alcohol rules).

Anyway, after a grueling session about various expansions out of Vale, they had the mysterious Professor Peach for general survival techniques in the wild. By mysterious meaning that no one has seen Professor Peach at all. They would walk into the classroom and once they sat down a piece of paper with the instructions for the day would appear on his or her desk. Either that or a video would start playing, detailing their lecture or scenario. A rumor was that Peach was Ozpin's alternate identity just so he could mess with the students more than he did already (Ruby remembered the ticking clock sound during initiation after Yang wanted two seconds for things to calm down). Today they needed to write down a preliminary essay for a scenario of being lost in the mountains and how to survive.

Combat training with Professor Goodwitch was either tedious or exciting. If two people were paired up it was either a good show or just a quick smack down depending on their strengths and weaknesses. Yang and Nora hadn't been paired up since the first time during their second month (they almost ruined the entire building), which was a relief for the student body. The next worse paring was Nora and Ruby. Less said about that the better. And don't even ask where the maple syrup and cookie crumbs came from.

Today was a rather boring day with only a few spars and they were (no offence to the students) rather lackadaisical to watch. Then they had Professor Port and Grimm studies. Or rather, story/nap time. Every class seemed to start off well, but then descend into personal stories, or boasting, that _sometimes_ ended with a moral. But today RWBY was too preoccupied with what was going to happen tonight to pay attention. Even Weiss who was the one that enjoyed Prof. Port's classes the most was just staring at the clock.

Ruby glanced over and saw that Jaune was talking to her, _probably trying to get a date with her again,_ she thought with amusement. Even Ruby knew Jaune was going at it the wrong way. And as Yang had put it previously, _"Snow Angel probably wasn't the best start." And that name fits… only when her walls are down though. _

The chime for the clock sounded, bringing Ruby out of her thoughts and smirked as Prof. Port was cut off from his story. They started filing out of the room and she heard Jaune ask Weiss, "Did you hear me?"

Weiss was walking away and she listed off, "No, no, no, yes." Jaune groaned and thumped his head against the desk. Ruby rolled her eyes at Jaune's cluelessness at Weiss' complete non-interest. _Seriously, even _I_ know that Pyrrha's pining over you Jaune. You have a much better chance with _your partner_ than mine. Besides Weiss is mine anyway… not like _that_!... _She heard Yang say a few comforting/pitying words to him but they continued on without stopping.

Now that classes were out of the way, they headed back to their dorm and changed into different outfits. She still kept her red cloak on though; she would never be separated from it. There was a minute where they recovered from the antagonizing long school day.

There was a general sigh all around. "I thought that class would never end," Blake commented, breaking the silence.

_Time to get this show on the road,_ Ruby thought. "Alright guys," she started, getting their attention, "today's the day. The investigation begins!" She declared and jumped from her bed, earning a yelp from Weiss, striking a pose.

"I'm glad to see we're taking this _so_ seriously," Weiss sarcastically said.

"Hey, we got a plan," Yang said, "that's… moderately serious."

"Right," Ruby said, wanting to go over everything again, "everyone remember their roles?"

"You and I will head to the CCT to check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family it shouldn't be a problem," Weiss bragged a bit. Ruby stopped herself from rolling her eyes and the snootiness.

Blake spoke next. "The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members," she said without any humor, completely down to business. "If I can get in I can hopefully find out what they're planning."

Yang was next. "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard." Ruby had a sneaky suspicion about whom Yang was going to see. _And if I remember correctly, she ruined his club the last time she was there. He'll be glad to see her. That was sarcasm there._

She put aside her thoughts and focused back to the present. "Great! We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we've found. Let's do this!" _This is going to be great. _

_"Yeah!"_ Came a new voice from… outside?

RWBY looked out the window to see Sun hanging on a tree branch by his monkey tail.

"Sun?" Blake exclaimed in confusion. They all took a step back in surprise.

"How did you get up there?" Yang asked.

"Ah that's easy, I do it all the time," Sun said nonchalantly.

Weiss took that a different way. "You do _what_?!"

"I climb trees all the time," he responded. _Nice save_, Ruby amusedly thought. "So, are we _finally_ going to get back at that Torchwick guy?" He asked as he flipped inside.

"_We_ are going to investigate the situation… as a _team_." Blake emphasized.

"Sorry Sun," Ruby shrugged apologetically, "we don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to." _Less of a hazard for them._

"Pshh, that's dumb," Sun scoffed. "You should always get friends involved; that's why I brought Neptune," he thumbed back outside.

"Wait. Neptune's outside?" Weiss asked eagerly, then coughed. Ruby stopped herself from scowling.

"Yep." Sun answered. Team RWBY brushed past the monkey Faunus to look. Sure enough, Neptune was just outside standing on a very small ledge that ran across the building.

"'Sup," the blue haired man said in greeting.

"How did you even get up here?" Ruby asked the question that was going through everyone's heads.

"I have my ways," he shrugged. Then, "Seriously though, could I come in? We're like, really high up right now."

Ruby looked at the rest of her team. _If we invite him in, then he and Sun are going to end up helping us… ah, what the heck, why not?_ Seeing the rest of the girls receptive to the idea, they moved back and let Neptune shimmy his way inside where he almost collapsed to the floor in relief.

"Took your time getting in here," Sun commented to his teammate.

"Not all of us are as able climbers as you Sun," Neptune shot back.

"So, how much did you two little eavesdroppers hear?" Yang asked.

"I heard all of it," Sun said.

"Most of it," Neptune admitted.

_Good enough,_ Ruby thought. "Alright, I'll go with Weiss. Sun, you can go with Blake." Ruby then got behind Neptune since he wasn't moving and started pushing him across the room. "And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?" she asked, knowing she wasn't going to change her mind unless it was serious. _I want to go with Weiss, _she thought. _We need a little more… partner bonding, yeah, that's it!_

"Actually Ruby," said partner started, "why don't you go with Yang? After all, she is your sister."

Ruby managed to keep the frown off her face, "But, Weiss, who would go with you then?" _Stop being so difficult!_

"Well… I guess Neptune could come with me?" She said, it coming out as a slight question.

_Quick Ruby, what should I go with? _Leader Ruby_? 'I've already decided and you have to deal with it?' No, that's not my style. _Kicked Puppy Ruby_? 'But, don't you want to come with me?' Eyck, too obvious. Oh! I got it, _Oblivious to Crush Ruby_. _

Ruby forced a snort and cackle. "Nah." She walked over and grabbed the back of Weiss' coat and started dragging her out of the room, ignoring her protests.

After they turned around two corners Weiss slumped and then grumpily said, "Alright, fine. I can walk you Dolt."

Ruby stopped and waited for Weiss to get upright before letting go. "I never said you couldn't. Now come on, let's go!" She eagerly said. She grinned a bit when she heard Weiss muttering behind her.

The CCT was basically a giant tower built for communications between the four kingdoms. It was a major hub of activity since that was the place where long inter-kingdom calls were made from, and basically what allowed the kingdoms to stay in touch.

And Ruby really enjoyed being there. "Wow! I forgot how big the transmit tower looks so close!" She was craning her neck to see the top of it glowing green even in the light.

"You should see the one in Atlas," Weiss said, a slightly boastful tone in her voice.

"That was the first one right?"

"Correct. Atlas developed the cross-continental transmit system to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War."

_Geeze Weiss, you don't have to sound like a teacher, I know all this!_ Ruby couldn't help but poke fun at Weiss, "Ooo, look at me, my name is Weiss, I know facts, I'm rich!" She couldn't hold it and started snorting to herself.

Weiss wasn't amused. "Don't be a pest! Besides the only reason we're here is because you like the tower so much. We could have just as easily made a call from the library." _Well not the only reason, I get to spend time with you. _

"I know but it's so cool!" _Oh, I have an idea! _"I'm going to take a picture! Get ready to smile!" Ruby reached into her pockets but somehow missed and fumbled with her Scroll. "Ah!" The item flew out of her hands and bounced across the ground until it hit someone's leg.

"Oh!" The girl picked it up and held it out to Ruby. "You dropped this."

"Penny?!" Ruby exclaimed. _Wow, it's been a while since I've seen her. Where did she go? _"Where have you been? We haven't seen you since the night at the docks," Ruby said.

"S-sorry. I think you're confused," Penny said slowly, not making any sense. The orange haired girl then gave a hiccup and tossed the Scroll back to Ruby. "Uh, I've got to go," she said hurriedly, then walked away briskly.

"What was that about?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know," Ruby honestly answered. "She seemed kinda' nervous, and I'm going to find out," she decided. Sorry Weiss, but I'm concerned about Penny right now. "You go make your call, I'll meet up with you later!" She started going after Penny, ignoring Weiss' protests (again).

She caught up with Penny pretty quickly, and noticed the other girl was ignoring her presence. "Penny! Where have you been? It's been weeks!"

"There seems to be a misunderstanding," Penny said, looking around, not making eye contact with Ruby. She started walking again.

"What?" Why is she trying to brush me off? "Penny, is everything okay?" Ruby asked once she slid down the railing to try and get in front of her friend, but she kept walking. "Penny please stop!" Ruby grabbed her arm to stop her. _Penny seems very withdrawn right now. And I need to talk to her about what happened that night. _"Look, I don't know what's wrong, but you have to listen to me. Those guys we fought at the docks, we think they're up to something big. Something bad! I need you to tell me what happened to you that night, please." Ruby begged. "As a friend." She pulled out her ace.

It seemed to work as Penny sighed, then looked around and leaned forward. "It isn't safe to talk here. Let's go to Vale and then we can talk."

Ruby looked into Penny's green eyes, looking for something that would tell her Penny meant it. She found the sincerity in them. "Alright, lets catch a Bullhead and we'll talk later."

* * *

Ruby hadn't found much out when they actually got around to talking, and when they did, she was distracted by the latest robot defense forces exposition that Atlas was showing off. And she was ashamed to admit she was almost drooling at the complexity of the machines.

It wasn't until she saw that Penny had bolted and two soldiers were running after them that she realized she had gotten caught up in the show. Ruby took off after her friend and caused a blockage but causing a pile of crates to fall down in the way of the soldiers. Seeing Penny was too far ahead to catch normally, Ruby activated her Semblance and caught Penny, pushing off of the wall. "This way!"

She pushed against the wall. _Wow Penny's heavy! Not even Yang's this heavy!_ They took off in a burst of speed and rose petals. I can't hold her any more, she's too heavy! Ruby sagged and let the momentum fall and they hit the ground. Unfortunately, Ruby started bouncing and rolling along the ground and she skidded to a halt in the middle of a street.

"Guhhh…" she moaned and looked up and around.

Then she froze.

Her glance had happened across a clothing store display window and there were several mannequins in different styles in the front. But the one that caught her attention was the tall one in a full suit and tie. It was normal looking, but the head of it was what caused her to freeze and recoil.

It was faceless and porcelain white.

She was reminded of the character in the game she had been playing that followed her around. _No. No no no. It's just a mannequin. It's not_ that thing! She started panicking and somewhere heard static from a T.V getting louder.

She didn't hear the horn of the truck, nor the screeching of tires trying to stop the vehicle; she was consumed in fear.

Then she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and shove her away from the store and out of the street, breaking her out of her panic. She looked and saw Penny, with her arms outstretched, the pavement cracked and breaking under her, the truck stopped cold.

Her shock was replaced by a different kind. "Penny…?"

"Are you okay?" She heard Penny ask the driver. The driver nodded and Penny stepped back, looking into Ruby's eyes, then looked around at the attention they had gathered and seemed to withdraw. The girl took off running and brushed past Ruby.

Ruby's mind seemed to restart and everything caught up to her. "Penny come back!" She shouted after the girl starting to go after her.

She spared a glance back into the street at the damage and the site of her near death experience, then looked at the mannequin that caused her panic attack.

It looked like it was staring right into her with unseeing eyes.

It wasn't looking that way before.

Ruby stumbled back and ran after Penny, partly to check on the other panicking girl. Mainly just to get away from that _thing_.

When it always watches with no eyes.

* * *

_Hours later…_

"What a day," Yang groaned as the team walked back into their dorm room. An hour ago they had been fighting a giant robot piloted by Roman Torchwick and managed to destroy it, but Torchwick escaped with the help of a new henchman. Henchgirl technically.

Ruby on her side-quest had discovered Penny was actually a robot girl, which now that she thought back on it wasn't completely out of left field. Penny didn't have any clues, and Ruby promised to keep her knowledge of her being a robot a secret, even from her team as it was Penny's tale to tell.

"I say that we go over what we found tomorrow," Ruby said.

"Ditto," Weiss said, still a little grouchy that her pun didn't work with half the team. _I liked it,_ Ruby thought to herself.

"Fine," Blake agreed and flopped on her bed, tired. They had called Sun and Neptune earlier to make sure they were all right after they fell off the freeway and discovered the two idiots (using the term endearingly) were eating noodles at a restaurant. They were fine, so RWBY went back to Beacon after answering some questions for the Vale Police… again.

"Who's up first?" Yang asked about who was going to use the bathroom.

"I'll go," Ruby volunteered and gathered her pajamas and changed inside the room. After brushing her teeth she changed places with Blake and crawled up into her bed. Ahgh, what a day.

She found her diary again and started writing.

* * *

_Today was interesting, more so than the day at the docks. We all went out today to find out what Torchwick and the White Fang were doing. I didn't find out much on that front, but I did learn something about Penny…. She's a robot! She can use Aura! It's incredible! She doesn't think she's real but I'd like to think I put her straight on that regard. She's like us, just with nuts and bolts and wires instead of blood and guts… I wonder if she drinks motor oil?... _

_Anyway, we fought Torchwick again after Blake and Sun found him at a White Fang rally and destroyed the war-bot he was in, though he got away again, thanks to a bodyguard he had. We'll go over what we found tomorrow, except for the Penny's a robot thing. I'll have to make something up. Can do!_

_… There's something else. I think that Slender game is getting to me. There was a moment that I completely froze because I saw a mannequin that looked like the Slenderman thing. I almost got hit by a truck if it weren't for Penny saving me. It's… disturbing that I think I see it now. Probably just my imagination playing tricks on me *nervous laugh*. I still need to beat the stupid game someday… but not for a while, ha ha!_

_That's all for now-_

Ruby stopped writing when she realized that when she was thinking she was doodling on the side of the page. It wasn't that she was doodling; it was _what_ she was drawing.

She was drawing scratchy stick figures with disproportionate arms that almost went down to the 'feet', and there were circles with 'x's in them. _That's… the things that are on the pages… In the game…_

Frantically she scribbled over the sketches and closed the diary momentarily to think straight. _What's the matter with me? I'm not even thinking about it and I'm drawing those things. Maybe I _do_ need to beat it, just to get it out of my head. _

She reopened the page.

_I just scribbled out the doodles on this page. I'm… a little scared that I'm doing that without thinking. I guess that game is getting to me. Maybe I should beat it just to put it out of mind. Then I'll uninstall it and throw it away! Worst 8 Lein I've spent. _

_Okay, now that's all!_

She closed the diary for good this time and tucked it into her little book hole she made. By this time everyone was done. "Everyone ready?" Weiss asked. Everyone gave an affirmative and she turned out the lights, plunging the room into darkness.

She didn't know about anyone else, but Ruby had a hard time falling asleep that night.

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**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

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**I didn't want this just to be a rewrite of the episodes so I cut quite of bit of things in it to make it flow better. You guys probably don't mind, right? **

**Once again, sorry for the long wait, but chapters will come with more frequency now. **

**Don't have much left to say, so until next time, R.R.F.F. (Read, Review, Favorite, Follow)**

**-OrangeGalen**


	8. Extracurricular Learning

**Hello again! This is certainly quicker than I thought it would be, but who should complain? I want to thank everybody who reviewed and favorited/followed this story so far, and there'll be more coming!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Slender. That's it. **

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**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Blake wasn't the only one suffering from sleep deprivation, though she was the one that showed it the most, evidenced by the increasing black rings under her eyes and bouts of inattentiveness.

Ruby was also in the same boat, though she was both hiding it and not having as bad a time as Blake, and the fights Pyrrha had during combat class got the excitement going, making her more awake. But it still sucked. The last week she had been having increasingly disturbing and unnerving dreams, all centered around that Slenderman game. _It's getting really annoying,_ Ruby thought irritably, not helped by the fact that Blake was also irritable with everything that wasn't related to finding things out about the White Fang.

Such as going to the school dance.

"You _what_?!" Blake exclaimed, sitting on her bed after they managed to nab her before she escaped to the library.

"We want you to go to the dance," Ruby repeated, trying to hide her frustration with the raven haired girl. _C'mon Blake, it's only one night. We can afford to rest- _you _can afford to rest one night. You need to. _

"That's ridiculous," Blake scoffed, slowly destroying that hope.

"Blake, we're worried about you," Yang said. "This investigation is starting to mess with your head." _Well, not just starting too. It's been going on for a while,_ Ruby sarcastically thought.

Weiss started counting on her fingers, "You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be bluntly honest, your grades have been suffering."

"You think I care about grades?! People's lives are at stake!" Blake protested.

Yang gently put a hand on Blake's own and lowered it, trying to calm her. "We know, and we'er also trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to."

"Thanks to you and Sun we know that they're operating somewhere outside of southeast Vale," Ruby inputted, trying to get Blake to see what they've already accomplished.

"And, the Schnee company records singled out Vale as the primary target for Dust robberies over the last few months," Weiss added.

"Don't forget about Atlas' missing military tech too," Yang mentioned dryly.

"But there's still unanswered questions," Blake kept going, sounding tired.

"Blake, you won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open!" Ruby said. _Please Blake, make this easier for all of us. Stop fighting us on this. _

"All we're asking is that you take it easy for one day," Yang said.

"It will be fun! Yang and I will make sure of it," Weiss promised.

"Yeah! We're planning the whole event!" Yang cheered, bouncing on the bed a bit with her fist pump.

"_Excuse_ me?" Blake exclaimed disbelievingly. _That's what happens when you miss something, _Ruby thought.

"Team CFVY's away mission lasted quite longer than expected, and they didn't finish planning the dance yet," Weiss explained.

"So Weiss and I were asked to pick up where they left off, and now we can make sure you can have the perfect night," Yang said, pointing at Blake.

"And once it's all over we'll return for our search, rested and ready," Weiss finished their lure.

"So what do ya think?" _Time to see if we caught the cat… dang it Yang!_ Ruby seriously hoped that Blake wouldn't fight this as she couldn't take much more of her protesting.

Blake closed her eyes, and for a moment it looked like she would agree. "I think this is a colossal waste of time," she decided. She stood up and started walking to the door.

_I've had enough with her, _Ruby thought and stood up, her own irritability rising past the lid. "Blake," she said forcefully to stop her. The secret Faunus paused to listen to Ruby. "Blake, please agree with us. We only want you to be at your best. If you walk out that door right now," she made a snap judgment, "we won't help you anymore with the investigation." That got a reaction, but out of the wrong two members of her team. "Team leader's order," Ruby snapped to silence them. She turned her silver eyes back to Blake. "Please…"

Amber eyes glanced across the room before returning to Ruby's. "Fine. If you won't help me, I'll do it on my own," Blake said monotonously, no emotion whatsoever in her voice, too tired to care. "I'll be in the library." And with that she left.

Ruby stared after Blake and after a moment, everyone left sighed in disappointment. Except Ruby, who growled (which came out more like a hiss) and kicked the bookcase in frustration.

"Great," Yang said.

"She can't keep going like this," Weiss stated. "And what was that about keeping us from the investigation?" She someone asked accusingly of Ruby.

Ruby sighed, "I just wanted her to stop. We're not working on it right now, and I meant we don't work until after the dance," she clarified to Weiss' beaut- err, bright blue eyes. _Not much better brain. _

They were distracted when there was a knock on the door. Already being up, Ruby dashed to the door. _Maybe it's Blake? Finally seeing reason?_ However, she knew there was only a slight chance it was the cat Faunus as she opened the door.

What she saw was not what she expected, and from the sounds she heard behind her, not what Weiss and Yang expected either.

Jaune Arc stood in the hallway, dressed in his usual attire, but with an added accessory of an acoustic guitar, that he started strumming.

~"Weiiiiiiiiiiiiss!"~ Jaune sung, horribly off key.

_Okay, I don't want to deal with this right now._ "Jaune," Ruby said, deceptively calm, cutting him off.

For some reason, a string on the guitar snapped with an awful twang, thrown off. "Uh, yeah?" He said when he recovered.

"Please, not now."

The boy blinked for a moment as he looked at her. There must have been something on her face as he blanched a bit and stammered, "Ah- no worries… I'll just, uh, wait… here. Until you're done." He laughed nervously and then stepped out of sight, starting to fiddle with his guitar. _Where did he get that anyway?_ Ruby closed the door and sighed, echoing Weiss. She put her head against the door, resting. _This day has not gone like I wanted it to. Thankfully it's almost over._

"Y'know Rubes," Yang said carefully, getting her attention in the tone that she recognized as_ 'what I'm about to say may upset you and I don't want to do that but I have to say it',_ "Blake's not the only one getting tired. You are as well."

"You're sleeping as well as Blake does when she _finally_ get into bed," Weiss said.

Ruby turned around and shrugged. "I know, but I don't have control over my nightmares," she said truthfully. And I really don't want to have them. Stupid game. I still need to beat it at some point.

Weiss quirked an eyebrow and disbelievingly said, "Nightmares? For the past week or so?"

Ruby had no answer, other than to shrug sheepishly. _Because of some stupid game I can't get any sleep, and I only played it twice. I wish I could forget about it, but I can't! _

"Look, just because Blake isn't getting any sleep isn't an excuse to follow her example. I… do have some sleeping pills if you want them," Weiss offered, recluctant.

That brought a smile to Ruby's face, seeing Weiss' caring side, but Yang spoke up. "Hey, are you trying to drug my sister?" She asked, both parts serious and playful.

Weiss huffed cutely and crossed her arms, "I was just offering!"

"Weiss, I appreciate the offer, but I think I can do without the pills," Ruby said with a soft smile. "Besides, Blake needs them more than I do." _If we can even get her back into the dorm. I think she slept in the library one night a couple days ago. _

"She'll see reason, even if I have to beat it into her," Yang said with a smirk that held no heat in it. "Now, what did Vomit-Boy want our resident Ice Queen for?"

"Why does everyone call me that?! Seriously!" A little annoyed, Weiss walked over to the door and peered outside, and then opened the door fully when she saw Jaune. "What." She asked flatly.

"Gah! Oh!" He apparently had fixed the string as he started playing and singing along in an... okay voice. ~"Weiss Schu-nee, will you accompany me, to the dance on…"~ He paused, and Ruby had to bite down a laugh. _He forgot the day! _He remembered and finished off, ~"Sunday!"~

There was a pause and then Weiss asked, "Are you done?"

"Yes?" Jaune said shrugging.

"… No." With that rejection, she closed the door in his face. She turned and glanced between Ruby and Yang, who were both looking on with amused expressions. "What?"

"And _that_ is why we call you the Ice Queen," Yang stated. Ruby couldn't help but giggle. Nice try Jaune, but Weiss isn't interested in you at all.

"All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name," Weiss said, trying to sound haughty at that, but not really getting there. Ruby's expression fell as she thought about all the boys, suitors I guess they're called then, that Weiss had to deal with. That made her annoyed for some reason. "Besides, I already have a date in mind."

Now that made her annoyed.

"Who? I mean-" she started over when she realized that sounded too aggressive, "who do you have in mind?"

"Now that will be surprise," Weiss said coyly, making Ruby even more annoyed. Then her confidence diminished slightly, "Well, I still need to ask him…"

"Hmph," Ruby grunted, not trusting herself to blut something out, but then sighed, the events of the day coming back to her. "Date or no date, the dance won't be the same if we can't somehow get Blake to go."

Yang seemed deep in thought. "I have a plan in the making, but it's a gamble whether it'll work or not."

Now I'm interested, Ruby thought. "What is it?"

Yang seemed unusually meek. "I think the only way Blake'll stop is if she hears about another time… that stubbornness isn't the answer…"

Ruby nodded, but then thought about what her sister said. _Stubbornness? What story does she have to relate to Blake's… no, she wouldn't… I don't think that she would._ "Are you talking about… _that_ day?" Ruby asked, not wanting to know the answer.

Yang sighed. "Yep."

Ruby frowned and looked at her sister intensely. "Are you sure?"

"I think so. Blake needs the wake up call."

Ruby stared at her for a few more moments before nodding. "If you think that would help."

"It will. She'll come," Yang said with a smile.

"Uhh, excuse me? What are you two talking about?" Weiss asked, left out of the know.

"Why don't you explain it to her? I'mma goin' to hit the bathroom," Yang said, standing up and going into the bathroom before Ruby could stop her.

"Wait!- Oh, sometimes Yang I really don't like you…" Ruby grumbled, though without any meaning.

"So what was that about?" Weiss asked her leader. Ruby turned and contemplated how to tell the story_. It's not that I don't want her to know, it's just that it's a little soon, and very personal. Although, since Yang's going to tell Blake, I should tell Weiss. It might bring us closer… As teammates! _She took a breath.

"It's a bit of family history," Ruby said, sitting back on Weiss' bed. "You may have noticed that Me and Yang-"

"Yang and I."

"-Yang and I don't look exactly like sisters," Ruby continued over Weiss' correction. "Well, that's because we have different birth mothers."

Weiss, to her credit, only blinked in surprise. "Okay," she said slowly. "Your father and mother were Hunters right?"

"Yep!" Ruby chirped. "Dad, mom, and Yang's mom were all on the same team when they were in Beacon. Dad was with Yang's mom first, but, after Yang was born, she left."

Weiss frowned. "Did she die in a mission?"

Ruby shook her head. _If only it were that simple._ "No, she just left without any warning, leaving Dad and Yang. My Mom, Summer, stepped in and after a year or so married Dad, and, well, had me," Ruby shrugged. "Yang always thought Summer was her mom, and it wasn't until her death that Yang really wanted to know what happened to hers.

"The way she felt, she was desperate to fill the void left after Mom passed. And when she found a clue, she took off, bringing me along in a wagon. I wasn't awake when it happened, since I was only five-ish, but the place Yang went to was infested with Grimm. We would have died if it weren't for our Uncle Qrow saving us. Yang still blames herself though for almost getting us killed and it tore her up for a while. I think that's what Yang's trying to get across to Blake, that being so focused on something can get you hurt."

Weiss was silent but Ruby could see her hand twitching towards her, as if the white-haired girl wanted to hold her or something. "Your family is a lot more complicated than I thought," she said in a little bit of a deadpan.

Ruby snorted, the seriousness of the situation fading. "You have no idea."

"Though it seems that you've had a hard time, and I sympathize." Now she started sounding a little awkward. "And I appreciate that you trust me enough to share this with me. And, uh, if there's anything you, ah, want to tell me, you may, but only if it's appropriate," she added, trying to keep face.

Ruby smiled, her heart fluttering for some reason. "Awww, thanks Weiss!" Acting once again on impulse, Ruby leaned over and hugged her partner. She felt Weiss stiffen up, but didn't let go.

"Y-you Dolt!" Weiss strangely stuttered, but didn't really try to push her away. _If it were Yang, she'd be trying to escape with everything she could. _

Ruby looked up with a smile and saw a hint of red across the pale girl's face. "Yep! That's me!" I know you care!

Weiss seemed to stare into her eyes before looking away. "Let go of me." Once again that was without heavy protest, but Ruby followed and pulled away. She smells like fresh snow. Is that strange that I smelled her? That probably is, isn't it? Oh I shouldn't mention that. But I do like the smell.

The two sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Yang came in, in her nightclothes. ~"Next"~ She almost sung.

Weiss took the initiative and went in, making a slight glance back at Ruby before the door closed. "Sooooo… how'd it go?"

"It think it went good," Ruby said, getting ready for bed since it was just Yang. "She thinks it is what Blake needs to hear." She pulled her nightshirt on and changed pants.

"I know it'll work," Yang said with full confidence.

Some time later, everyone went to sleep, but Ruby didn't have a restful night. She had another dream, but this time, it was just her and the Slenderman. Looking at each other. Then after some indiscernible time, it came closer to her. She backed up, but then it was behind her. She ran. Follows. Can't Run.

Eventually, she was cornered, and then it was in front of her. She couldn't move. It started coming closer…

And then she woke up with a startled gasp, trying to get her heart rate under control. _Dang it! Why won't these nightmares leave me alone! Tomorrow's the day of the dance, and I want to enjoy it! Not be tired because I can't sleep. _Ruby groaned and flopped back onto her bed, her arm over her eyes.

She lost count of the minutes that passed but she then heard the dorm room door open and someone come in. The person wasn't very quiet shutting the door and immediately flopped onto something after walking a few steps. From the location of the sound, it sound's like Blake finally came back… late… again. She sighed and rolled over, closing her eyes and getting a few more hours of sleep.

* * *

Not that those hours did any good. That combined with Blake still being stubborn made Ruby even more down and unhelpful. Not that she wanted to be unhelpful, it was just she couldn't muster up enough energy to help Yang and Weiss with getting everything ready.

It seemed that Weiss had picked up on that and tried to involve her by slapping two identical papers on the table. "I need _you_ to pick a tablecloth color."

Ruby tried to tell the difference between the two, but she couldn't. "Aren't they both the same?"

Apparently that was the wrong answer as Weiss sighed in frustration and crunched the papers in her hand, probably unknowingly. "I don't even know why I asked!" With that Weiss walked away.

_Oh man, I probably should have just picked one. But I couldn't lie to her face. But she didn't ask me to tell the difference, just to pick one. Ahhhgh, why am I so stupid sometimes?_ Now even more depressed, she laid her head back down on the table, ignoring Yang when she places/dropped a speaker on the ground, causing her and the table to jump a bit.

"So, have you picked out a dress yet?" Yang asked, coming over to her.

Ruby looked over, not moving her head from her arms. "What's the point? Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?"

"Oh don't worry, she's coming, I'll make sure of it." Yang looked away to do something else, but Weiss' actions got her attention. "Weiss!" She almost whined, "I thought we agreed: no doilies!"

Ruby had to hide a smirk as Weiss marched up to Yang, threatening her with a finger and an ultimatum. "If _I_ don't get doilies, _you_ don't get fog machines!"

They all looked up when they heard the hall's doors open and close. Neptune and Sun walked through the doors with good natured expressions, thought the sight of Neptune made Ruby annoyed for some reason.

"Your dance is gonna have fog machines?" The blue haired guy asked.

Ruby's irritation went up two notches when Weiss stepped forward and adopted a voice that Ruby's only heard a couple of times. "We were thinking about it…" she said, almost playfully.

"That's pretty cool," Neptune said.

"You ladies all excited for dress-up?" Sun thankfully interrupted, bringing down Ruby's ire. Why am I getting so worked up about Neptune?

Then Sun's comment registered in her mind. "Psssh… yeah right," she dismissed. _I hate wearing those stupid heels. And the dress is so exposing!_

"Laugh all you want, I'll be turning heads tomorrow night!" Yang boasted, and Ruby had to admit there would be a few heads turned, but mainly because it was Yang in a dress.

Weiss then asked the boys, "What are you two wearing?"

"Uhhh... this?" Sun gestured to his unbuttoned shirt, rolled up jeans, and regular tennis shoes.

Neptune stepped in front of him and held up his hand in Sun's face, blocking him partially from view. "Ignore him for he knows not what he says."

Sun then knocked Neptune's hand out of the way and said, "Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt-and-tie kind of place."

Ruby stared at him in absolute deadpan. "Yeah, we noticed." Yang said, in the same feeling.

There was a pause and Sun started rubbing the back of his neck. "Soooo… what does Blake think of all this?" Ruby had to suppress a groan at that. "She still being all, y'know… Blake-y?"

"Obviously." Weiss stated, as disgruntled as Ruby felt.

"I still don't know why she just doesn't come to the dance," Ruby said, "It won't do any harm."

"Hey, trust me: Blake will be at the dance tomorrow," Yang stated in absolute certainty. "In fact, I'm about to talk to her right now."

"She's probably in the library, as usual," Weiss muttered.

Ruby had nothing else to do. "Mind if I come with? I'm no use here," Ruby said, gesturing to the ballroom.

Yang seemed to consider this and looked at Weiss who shrugged. "Sure! The more the merrier. Though not for you two," she suddenly said, pointing at Sun and Neptune. "This is strictly a team matter."

"Alright, gotcha'." Neptune nodded.

"Well, if you think that's best," Sun agreed.

"Alright then, let's go Rubes!" Yang gestured for Ruby to follow, and Ruby did, working herself off of the table and following her blond sister. The walk to the library took a few minutes but went rather fast all things considered. But just outside the doors, Yang stopped and turned to Ruby, starting to talk in a hesitant voice.

"Hey Ruby, would you mind if I could do this… on my own actually?" Ruby blinked at the unexpected question.

"Why would you let me come this way if you weren't going to let me help?" She asked, uncaring if it was a little rude, even if they were sisters.

"I was thinking that together… we might make the scaredy-cat run away," Ruby sighed at the cat pun. "And also you were looking a little down, so I wanted you to get moving and do _some_thing."

Ruby thought for a moment. "Alright," she agreed. _In truth, it probably would make Blake think we're ganging up on her… again._ "I trust you. I'll just… wander around the library for a while then."

"Okay. The next time you'll see Blake, she'll be rearing to go to the dance." Yang fumbled around in her pocket for a moment, the pulled out…

"Really Yang? A laser pointer?" Ruby said disbelievingly.

"It works?"~ Yang said with a little singing in her voice. "See you later!" She then took off into the library, leaving Ruby behind.

"Just like the first day here…" Ruby sighed, but entered the library. _Okay, I have no idea where to go here. Maybe I'll hit my favorite fantasy section. _With no clear direction, Ruby headed off in that direction. The library was populated somewhat normally, all things considering that the dance was tomorrow. People were doing last minute studying, or just lazing about.

Ruby had just passed into the fantasy section when a book caught her eye. She backtracked a bit and picked it up, reading the title.

Heroes and Monsters: A look into the Myths and Legends of a Forgotten Past

_Huh, this sounds like a more mature version of the fairy tales I heard as a kid._ She knew that the ones she heard were made appropriate for kids and abridged. It sounded intriguing, so she opened it up and scanned the table of contents.

_Let's see… the Tale of Two Brothers, The Red Reaper; oh that's one of my favorites! Then the Odyssey, The Grimm Princess, Great Warriors of Old, The Shallow Sea, The Girl in the Tower, Stories of the Lone Wanderer, Story of the Seasons, Rittder and the Faceless One… wait._

She took a second look at the title of that story and was suddenly struck with a foreboding feeling. But unable to resist, she opened it up to the page that it started on and began reading.

This next tale is a rather curious and disturbing one, and is more open to interpretation than many others, yet key aspects of it stay the same in all iterations. It is unclear if this tale is from the era of the Grimm Wars or maybe even before that since this story has been relatively unedited and unchanged since that time, unlike many other tales from that same time. While subsequent tales of a similar nature have been told, this is the oldest one and is the basis for the other tales.

'There once was a town in a remote forest that was having their children being taken by a creature. Only the children and a few others could see the monster, and slowly the town diminished, its people growing more afraid each passing day. The town became haunted and desolate as more and more children went missing. Some children said they kept seeing a tall faceless man following them, trying to lure them away from their parents. Those same kids suffered terrible nightmares and saw the Faceless One everywhere they looked, even in their own homes. Some fell to madness, obsessing over the Faceless One, before going missing.

When it became too much, a group of warriors went out into the woods to look for their missing children. They never found them, save for blood and torn limbs. Some would often find carvings done in trees, warnings and depictions of the Faceless One, as it became called, done by the children taken.

Eventually an Awakened knight named Rittder came to them, traveling through the land, and the people in the town beseeched him to kill the monster. Agreeing after seeing their plight, he went into the woods, armed with his sword and shield. Wandering deep into the darkness of the woods, he found the Faceless One and battled it. Rittder retuned, claiming that he had killed the monster and rescued the last child taken, Benjamin, who was the son of the town leader; making him the only child to return alive. The town rejoiced, believing that the danger had passed.

Days passed peacefully until a disturbance woke the town. Benjamin, the child, told them that Rittder had awoken in pain and was delusional, and then had started changing until he resembled the Faceless One. The creature left without disturbing anyone in the town.

Vowing to save his own savior, Benjamin took Rittder's sword and shield and left, tracking the man that was once known as Rittder.'

It is unkown if Benjamin ever found Rittder or the creature he became, but over time there have been other similar tales in all kingdoms to this one that share common things.

First and primarily is the creature itself. There are many descriptions, but the most universal is that it is abnormally tall and skinny, and has a white face with no features and elongated arms. The number of arms varies from two to even ten in one story. It seems to appear mainly to children and preys on them, though there have been tales where it hunted older people. Since the children have never been found, save Benjamin, we can only assume that they were killed in a manner similar to its adult victims.

Over the many years, this tale has fallen into obscurity and mainly forgotten since the Grimm have become the main monsters in the dark. Like many other legends, it is hard to discern the truth from the stories. While the researchers gathered for this book don't believe that there is a supernatural creature, they agree that it was a type of Grimm that hasn't been seen in many years. And from the tales, we can only hope that it remains unseen for many years.

Ruby closed the book and put it on the shelf in a cold daze. _It… it all fits. The faceless man, the carvings are the pages, seeing it everywhere. Thinking about it all the time… _Something clicked in her mind that sent her into a panic. _No. No no no._ She walked briskly out of the library and then tapped into her semblance to run to her room, passing by a streak of white along the way.

She got into the dorm and went directly for her diary. She opened it to the last page and nearly dropped it in fear once she saw what was on it.

What she had written had been nearly covered by drawings and little phrases. There were circles with 'x's through them, trees, random scribbles, and then a tall, faceless stick figure with wrong proportions. She frantically looked through the last couple entries and almost cried as they were almost the same, the number of drawings per-page diminishing the earlier she went until she found the day she first bought the game with a single sketch of the Slenderman. "No no no no no." She put her diary down and backed up, jumping when she hit the bookcase and turned around, only to freeze in fear.

Down below, in the courtyard. She could see it. Slightly hidden behind a tree. Watching. She couldn't breath, she couldn't move because of the raw fear she felt. All of her horrors petrified her and she couldn't stop staring. The sound of static started growing in her ears and her vision started going fuzzy.

Then there was a sudden bang and Ruby broke out of her fear induced petrification and jumped again, turning to see what caused the sound. "AH! Oh, it's you," she said in relief.

"Ruby," Weiss said, looking a little out of breath, "why were you running?"

"Huh? Oh, ah, it was nothing! A false alarm! I thought I forgot to do something! Yeah, that's it! Nothing to be afraid of!" Ruby said hurriedly, trying to cover up her panic attack, for that's what it was.

Weiss frowned in concern and came closer. "Ruby, you don't look okay." She put a cool hand against Ruby's head and suddenly her nose was filled with the scent of fresh snow, calming her quite a bit. "Are you getting sick? We don't need you throwing up again," Weis said concernedly.

"Ah, no, I'm a-okay Weiss!" Ruby said, giving a little thumbs-up, now feeling hot for an entirely different reason. Wow, how come I never noticed that she smells really good and strong? It's really nice but I can't think straight now!

Thankfully for Ruby's mental state, Weiss withdrew her hand. "Well, if you're sure," she said.

"Yep, I am!" Ruby chirped. There was a pause and then she asked, "So, is the planning done yet?"

"Almost," Weiss said. "Just a few things to take care of tomorrow, but that's all. I was just about to check if my dress was done when you rushed past."

"Oh, okay! Sorry if I distracted you," Ruby apologized.

Weiss mumbled something before she said louder. "If that's all, then I'll get going then.

"Alright, see you later!" Ruby said as Weiss went back out the door. Ruby had a content smile on her face before it slipped off. She looked out the window again, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Okay Ruby, you're not going crazy. You aren't seeing things. The Slenderman isn't real, just a game! Just a game." She looked over at the computer. _The game. If I beat the game everything will be alright. I'll have beaten it. _

She walked over and started up the computer.

_I'm going to beat it this time._

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**Next time, Ruby Plays: Final Attempt. Will she beat it? Or will something else happen? Find out next time!**

**Remember to Read, Review, Favorite, and Follow. **

**-OrangeGalen**


	9. Ruby Plays: Final Attempt

**What's up everybody! A couple hours late for Halloween, but better late than never? Sorry for the wait, but stuff happened and I started working on my other stories and it snowballed from there. Once again, sorry.**

**Anyway, thank you all for those that Favorited and followed and reviewed. It means a lot and is mainly why I continue this story. Hope you stay tuned for more.**

**Now, here we go with Ruby's third (and final) attempt at beating Slender.**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Slender and especially don't own RWBY.**

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Ruby booted up the computer and waited for it to finish setting up, dreadful anticipation settling in as she watched the mouse pointer pinwheel_. I am going to beat this game. I_ _need to beat it, for my own peace of mind. And also for the illogical sense that if I do beat it then these creepy things will stop appearing and I'll stop going crazy,_ Ruby thought.

_… That really didn't help me calm down at all. _

The computer pinged, drawing her out of her thoughts. Ruby put in the password and logged in, the desktop loading after a few seconds. With dreadful anticipation she plugged in her headphones and double clicked on the infernal game. _Already I'm sweating, and not the good kind, and it's only the menu. Grrrr….!_

_Okay, last chance to back out and save yourself… no, I'm already past that,_ Ruby realized with despair. _I… I have to beat this game. It's the only way that the Slenderman would leave me alone. It doesn't make any logical sense, but it also does. If I beat it, then I'll beat the Slenderman and things'll go back to normal. _

The main menu came up and Ruby winced and growled at the awful, out of pitch droning that started. She quickly clicked 'Start Game' and the screen turned black and the sound of someone walking started again. _Let's just get this going, before I get a heart attack, _Ruby thought as she clicked somewhere on the screen to skip the intro. Immediately the flashlight flickered on and the goal of 'Collect all 8 Pages' appeared.

_Okay, I'll go to the right first, and find the page on that red tower thing._ She turned off the flashlight to save the battery and started walking, using the slightly more lit night sky in the game to see where she was going and following the 'path.' She flicked the flashlight on every once in a while to see around and caught sight of the red tower thing. _Okay, I'll circle around it and then head to the bathroom/shower/locker room place. I _do not _want to get caught in there with a lot of pages!_

She circled around the tower counter-clockwise and found the first page just before she completed a full circuit. It was the page that had the Slenderman in the trees, just standing there. Ruby took a deep, fortifying breath. This is the point of no return…

She clicked the page.

Pages 1/8

And then it started.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

Ruby let out a little whine that anybody that owned a dog would recognize and her hands started getting clammy. _Just… just go and find the page in the bathroom place. Get this over with. _Ruby started 'jogging' on and off in the direction she knew where the building was. Or so she thought.

_Where the heck is it!_ She thought frantically. _All I see are trees and more trees! Where is everything?!_ She turned off her flashlight for a few seconds then turned it on again, repeating this until she found something. _What? No! These are those tanks! I don't want those. How'd I end up over here anyway? I wasn't even close to this area! Oh well, at least now I know where the building is and I can head there._

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

She skirted the edge of the tanks and eventually saw her flashlight shine on the brick building. She approached the left side of it, and went through the doorway, a room directly to her left. Ruby shined the light on all the walls but found nothing. _Okay okay, that's okay, I only have one page. I still have time. I can do this. _She left and went down the porcelain hallways and turned left and continued, going to the other room that was down that way. She entered and looked around again.

This time there was a page: the one that said 'Always Watches, No Eyes'. She clicked it.

Pages 2/8

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

_Gotta get out gotta get out gotta get out!_ Was Ruby's only coherent thought as she went out of the dead end hallway and out of the building through the center door towards the tankers. She made her character pass through the two center ones and then looked left and then right. I don't see the little outline of the pages. They might be on the other side. She continued and finally saw the page on the far right tank. She jogged to it (it was the one that just said 'Help Me') and clicked. Nothing popped up. _What? No no no, click the stupid page!_ She clicked it again and this time the message popped up.

Pages 3/8

Then a low drone started up that raised the hairs on Ruby even more. Cheese it! She started jogging now, weaving through the trees. Then she saw a series of rocks. _Another place! I don't think I can go through the center so I'll skirt the edges._ She started circling in a clockwise fashion, but started getting worried when she couldn't see any page. _What? There's no page here?_ She kept going hoping that she just missed something.

She didn't.

Oh, oh, okay. There's no page here. She made a half turn, but then her screen started fuzzing up and static started to sound. _Oh okay hello there not that way then._ She turned around and started jogging again. Unfortunately she got lost in the woods. _Ah, I have no idea where I am! I could use a map!... actually that would not be helpful in any way because I don't know where I would be on the map anyway… Well there's the fence, _Ruby pointed out to herself as she happened upon the border of the play area.

_Can I climb over it? Is there a 'climb' button?_ She pressed her screen face against the fence, in a lost hope that it would do something. Ruby sighed. _Thought that could work._ She turned right and started going through the trees, but not for long.

_BAMM!_

"AHHHHH!" Ruby screamed as the sound of something slamming on a piano happened as she rounded a tree and saw the Slenderman a little too close for comfort. "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOT THAT WAY!" Ruby shouted as she sprinted in the opposite direction, weaving through the trees.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

After getting thoroughly confused and disoriented, Ruby saw a yellow-ish stone structure that was like a '+' sign. _Is this new?_ Ruby started going counter clockwise this time and found the fourth page, saying 'Follows' with the Slenderman and a tree.

Page 4/8

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

_God cheese it! Go go go!_ Ruby cut the corners as much as she could without ramming into them, then, once she cleared it, took off. She found another dirt path and stuck with it, scanning the edges of the woods with her slightly dimmer flashlight. Then she saw something a little odd. A series of totem pole things in two rows. Ooooookay? _Was this here? I don't remember._ At that she realized something. _Actually, I don't remember much of the other two times I played this or when the rest of the team played. Is that good or bad? I don't know. _

She checked around the totems and found another page, the one that just said 'No No No No' a bunch of times.

Page 5/8

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

In addition to the drumming and the droaning, an even louder sound started which was like a high wind going through a big, long, metal pipe. "Ahh-hah-hah…" Ruby quietly sobbed to herself as the noise started. _On the bright side, this is the farthest I've gotten._

She continued walking. And then. "Oh no, I'm back here again!" She was at the tankers in the center of the map. "Where do I go from here? Up? Or north?" She did a wide 'U' turn to go away from the tankers. She wandered for a minute before the desire to _know_ overcame her. _I need to know if he's there. I need to know where he is. It's almost as maddening to see him, it, whatever._ She turned around.

Slenderman wasn't there.

_Oh shit shit shit, _Ruby thought, even as some part of her mind chastised her for the language. Looking around once more, she screamed a bit as he was suddenly much too close poking out from behind a tree. With his facelessness and too long arms that waved slightly to an unseen and felt breeze.

"Ahh! Okay okay, you just stay right there!" Ruby shouted as she backed up, moving the tree in-between their line of sight. Thankfully that made the static lessen and she kept backing up until she felt safe…-er. Time to see where I'm going. Ruby turned around and was almost smacked in the face with a concrete tunnel thing. Ah, okay?

She looked inside and the page was directly on her right. 'Leave Me Alone.' Yes please! Well this one was relatively easy really.

Page 6/8

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

_Holy crap, I'm almost there. Just two more._ She jogged away to the left and using the rough mental map she was remembering, moved to the areas she hadn't been to. _ACHK! Nope!_ She exclaimed when her vision started getting static alarmingly fast. _Nope nope nope! _She continued jogging along the path and found a beat up old red truck. "Ahggggggggg…" Ruby breathed out as she grew increasingly shaky, nerves and anxiety starting to cripple her. It didn't help that she felt something watching her from behind her in the room. There was something that was getting closer and closer to her, but she didn't want to look away from the screen to see.

Plus she didn't want to.

She didn't want to see _it_.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

She cautiously circled around the truck and found the next page on the side of it. 'Can't Run.'

Page 7/8

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

Then there was this ominous echoing bell ringing tone that faded in and out that grated on Ruby's almost non-existent nerves even more. Her flashlight was at about half the strength it was when she started, and Ruby herself was starting to get a little light headed.

She glanced one way just a little too far and heard the piano slam again, making her jump and scream incoherent noises for a second as she made the character run forward along the path. The next thing she saw was the trailer and the truck. Let's hope this is the last page here. I can't take much more of this! She started circling it, catching the long edge of the trailer before going around the side when she didn't see the slight glow of the page. Then when she went around, she still didn't see it. Oh come on! Ruby thought. No page?! What's next? I don't remember anything else!

Knowing that the Slenderman was right on her butt, she continued hurriedly.

_Thum… thum… thum… thum…_

Please please please, leave me alone! Help me! She continued jogging along the dirt path.

And then she saw it.

The dead tree in the middle of the path.

_Of course, _she thought, eerily calm all of a sudden. _It would be here._ She started circling the tree, almost hugging it before the last page was in her face.

'Don't look or it takes you'

Click.

Page 8/8

The sounds abruptly faded into silence, the absence of them was jarring since Ruby had heard them for so long. The silence, save for the heavy breathing her character was doing, was blessed right then.

"It's… over?" Ruby said aloud, shocked and disbelieving that she had won. "I… did it?" She made her character back up and quickly did a scan of the area. There was no Slenderman anywhere.

"I beat it?" Then the realization came. "I BEAT IT!" She cheered as she rocked back in her chair, her arms thrown up in victory. "EAT DUST SLENDERMAN! WOOOOO!" She came back down and then started moving her character around.

"… Sooooo, now what?" The game hadn't ended yet and her character could still move around. Do I escape now? I got all the pages. Why hasn't the game ended?

…

_Blip!_

Ruby jumped in her seat and tried to scream, but nothing came out as it caught in her throat. Then her character was forcefully turned around as the piano slammed and her screen filled with static as she saw the outline of the monster. Then it was just the face of it as the screen was consumed by static, flickering on and off, with the face ever present.

Then the screen went black.

Ruby's eyes were wide, staring at the screen. But they were dead. There was no emotion behind those silver eyes. She didn't react as the credits started and the _Thum_-ing started again.

Emotionlessly she quit the game and removed the headphones from her head and set them on the table. She stood up and walked to the center of the room, starting to pace slowly.

_I won… I won, but Slenderman still got me. I lost in the end. I won but I lost. Was that it? Is that what I'm destined for? To loose anyway? Even if I win, I loose. Is that what it's telling me? I can't run. Always watched. No. No no no no no. That can't be. _

Somehow, Ruby found her diary in her hand, with a pen in the other and she started writing.

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_I beat Slender but I still lost. The game ended with the Slenderman catching me anyway, even though I beat it, got all 8 pages. Is that it? I feel… wrong. Watched. It's been plaguing my thoughts ever since I bought the game. I can see it. Feel it. It's here, somewhere. Help me. _

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Ruby came out of her trance and looked at what she wrote. It was barely legible beneath the scribbles of trees and misshapen stick figures on the page. Horrified that she didn't even realize that she did that, she flung the book away from her, not knowing where it landed. _No! No no no no no no no! This isn't happening. I won't be taken by the Sl- _blip_\- Slenderman. Oh… what?_

She blinked, trying to get the fuzz out of her eyes. _Why? What did I do? Why is it after me? Leave me alone! _She started getting dizzy and she could hear static coming from somewhere. _Always watches no eyes. Can't run from it. Just leave me alone! Go away! Leave help me. Can't run follows. No no no no no no leave me alone no no no no no no no can't runalwayswatchesnoeyesfollowsdon'tlookorittakesyoutakesyoueightpageshelpmehelpmehelpnonononononoslendermanslendernonononononofollowscan'trundon'tlookdon'tlookfollowsfollowsnononononononocan'trunalwayswatchesalwayswatchesnoeyesnoeyesfollowsleavemealoneleavemealonenoeyesdon'tlookorittakesyoufollowsfollowsnoeyesdon'tlook-_"RUBY!"

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"Heeeey Ruby, it's time to get ready for the dance," Yang said cheerfully as she opened the door and walked in. There was a pause as she waited for a response from the crimsonette who was… strangely standing in the center of the room. "Ruby? Remnant to Ruby? Ruby!" Yang said louder as she didn't get a response. _What's wrong with her? Why isn't she responding? Can she hear me? Does she have headph- no she doesn't, so why isn't she responding? _Yang, with more than a bit of concern crossed the room to her sister.

"RUBY!" She all but shouted at her sister as she tapped her shoulder. That seemed to do the trick as Ruby jumped and spun around.

"Yang! Don't do that!" Ruby shouted and whined at the same time.

"Sorry Rubes but it doesn't help when your head's in the clouds. I've called you several times already," Yang said with a hint of sisterly worry.

"You have?" Ruby asked, with a slight tilt of her head, her brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

"Yeah, you must have been thinking about something really deeply if you didn't hear me," Yang said with a smile.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Ruby said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"What were you thinking about," Yang asked.

Ruby outright frowned then. After a few moments, she said, "I… really don't remember now. I think it was about me thinking about beating that Slender game finally. Eh, mustn't have been too important. So, what's up?" She asked her sister.

"Well, it's time to get ready for the dance," Yang said, going to what originally brought her back to the room.

"Already?" Ruby said, looking at the clock they had. "Wow time went by fast." She met Yang's eyes again. "How'd it go with Blake?" She asked hesitantly.

"I… think I got to her," Yang admitted. "She'll be coming now for sure," she said confidently.

Ruby sighed in relief. "Good. She needs a break… and I need to apologize to her for being so bossy."

"You mean Weissy, right?" Yang said with a grin.

"Yaaaaaang!" _There it is._

"Anyway, I'm sure she'll understand and forgive you. Besides, it's your job now really. Just like it's my job to get you ready for the dance." Yang's smile grew as her younger sister groaned and slouched.

"Ugh, do I have to wear it? With those heels?" Ruby moaned.

"Yep! They go with the dress. And no you can't wear your hoodie to the dance, it's a formal event," Yang said, cutting off Ruby's figurative escape.

"Ugh… fine, let's get this over with," Ruby groaned as Yang led her to the bathroom after grabbing her dress, subconsciously stepping over the diary splayed open on the ground, closing the door to dress up her sister, which never got old.

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**Fun fact: I have yet to beat Slender because I can't stand scary games (or movies).**

**Heehee... everyone knows you can't escape the Slenderman Ruby. What made you think that?... Now what will happen next?... :D**

**Please R.R.F.F (Read, Review, Favorite, Follow)**

**-OrangeGalen**


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